In many other nations such as Australia, the penny has been retired. To them it’s just not worth it. It actually costs two cents to make to make one cent.

But students at BMS still admire the penny, no matter what. They use these pennies to do the Penny War, one of the favorite events of the eighth graders. Every year at BMS, the school holds the annual Penny War to raise money for the Westport Department of Human Services.

The contest started on Monday, Nov. 16 and ended on Friday, Nov. 20. Last year, the event raised $10,231 to help the Department of Human Services, and over the years the school has raised over $61,485.

This fundraising effort was created to bring presents to needy people who don’t have enough money to get their holiday gift wishes, ranging from a simple pair of gloves to a guitar. Also, store gift cards for Costco and other companies are bought so they can get groceries, gas, and toiletries.

This year the fierce war among the three pods with Green and Red tied at four wins. You’d think that it would be hard to raise that much money if they were just collecting pennies, but students aren’t just putting in pennies. You can also subtract 100 points from the other team by putting in $1 bills.

You can also “bomb” the other pods with silver coins subtracting their value from the jar of pennies.
Last year the main strategy was not to put in the pennies as you got them but to hide them and release all of the money at the end; this strategy was repeated this year by the red and green teams.

At the final lunch period, the red and green teams paraded their hidden wealth of pennies out of their pods chanting “I believe that we can win!”

Suddenly, one tub of the red team’s pennies fell onto the floor! A large crowd formed around the pile of pennies picking them up or helping.

This year was probably one of the fiercest years for competition in the Penny War. This year, the Red pod gained $1,952 and beat the Green and Purple pods, therefore settling the rivalry.

“The Penny War is a unique fundraising event that draws on the competitive spirit of eighth graders while teams fight against each other. Their goal of raising money for a good cause unifies the eighth grade class,” said emcee Mr. Kevin Cuccaro.

Ava Simunovic, when asked about the Penny War this year said, “I like it, I’m excited!” Ariana Gerig said that the wars are, “A really fun activity that brings all the pods together in the eighth grade.”

These generous donations totaled up to over $7,300. This money is really going to help people have their Christmas wishes come true.

On the Monday following the week of competition, Dr. Rosen thanked all the eighth graders who donated and those who lent a helping hand.