Every penny made a difference this week at Hoglan Elementary School.

The school held its “Penny War” from May 1 to May 5 to support the K-9 units for the Marshalltown Police Department and the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office. At the end of the week, Hoglan students and staff raised approximately $3,400 through spare change and bills.

“The Marshalltown Police Department is humbled by the fantastic support Hoglan Elementary has shown our police K-9 program this week,” said MPD Chief Mike Tupper. 

“The kids and families really go all out for Penny Wars,” said kindergarten teacher Amy Pollard. “The kids are excited because they know that all the money’s going to a good cause.”

How the Penny War works is each class is working to have the most pennies by the end of the week. Pennies are considered positive points for a classroom while “silver”, other coins and dollar bills, are negative points. Students drop their silver into rival classroom’s collection containers to try to take the lead.

This is not the first time that Hoglan has held the Penny War but it has been awhile since the last one. Pollard explained the fundraiser is easy to organize and has been used to support a variety of local organizations.

Hoglan chose to support the K-9 units for the Marshalltown Police Department and the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office because of how many students and staff have ties to local law enforcement.

“The kids get really fired up on which teacher they’re going to try to sabotage, that’s the word they like to use,” she said. “The kids look at the totals and the teachers look at the totals and then we try to just take each other down.”

Pollard said Hoglan students and staff “knocked it out of the park” with the fundraiser this year.

“I feel it’s important to invest in Marshalltown. It’s a great community and our schools are a great place to send your kids,” she said. “We’re trying to do great things for our community.”

“Police officers had the opportunity to hang out with staff and kids a couple of times this week as the Penny War waged. It was a lot of fun. Thank you Hoglan Elementary for your generous support,” Tupper said.