Girls Learn International’s first Penny War was one for the books! Although the fundraiser did not exceed the limits that the club had hoped, it was an awful lot of fun and brought the school closer together. As of November 30th, the club raised a total of $108, with the senior class taking the victory. 

The seniors wiped out the Juniors and underclassmen by 30 dollars. Juniors were in second place, but far from the winning mark. The freshman and sophomores were tied and missed the mark by a lot. Overall, the student body was very intrigued with the drive and tried to donate as many pennies as possible. 

Noa Batlle, a junior at Marco Island Academy shared, “It was nice to have a fun change in the traditional fundraiser. It was definitely something new, and I thought it was refreshing to have some competition.” 

A common theme between the grade levels was a love for sabotaging other grade levels by adding mass amounts of quarters and dimes into their opposing jars. Another way that they increased their points was by adding dollar bills into their jars. $1 bills and $10 bills made up the majority of the senior’s jar, adding thousands of points and increasing our funds. 

“The senior class definitely surpassed the other classes,” mentioned Annabelle Frazer, MIA GLI’s president. “I believe it was the fact that it’s one of our class’ final chances to participate in school fundraisers that everyone felt the urge to chime in.” 

GLI kept their tactics going by placing the jars in the lobby after going back and forth between moving them. They learned that in the future, they should better promote it to their classmates and announce that the funds are going to a good cause, and that their money is not going to waste. 

The entirety of the funds were successfully donated to the Naples Shelter for Abused Women and Children, helping bring new life and resources to those in need. 

As for the future, MIA GLI is brainstorming new ideas to further promote the club, so stay tuned!