Oakland Elementary School recently declared a “Penny War” to raise money for the Henry County chapter of Ferst Readers. The students collected pennies adding up to $1242 in just one week. The funds will be used to purchase books for local preschoolers to help prepare them for kindergarten. Faculty and staff also participated in the challenge. The top class was rewarded with a pizza party, and the runners up with an ice cream party.

“The teachers and staff were as into it as the kids were!” said Stacey Clark, parent involvement liaison. “We will definitely do it again!”

“My hope is that several of the Oakland students have young siblings who benefit from receiving Ferst books,” said Doris Griffin, chair of the local Ferst organization. “We firmly believe that having access to books in the home is essential to early literacy preparation. We’re excited that this year we will be sending our 250,000th book! That’s a quarter of a million books to children in Henry County since 2006!”

Oakland Elementary is located on Hwy. 81 West in McDonough. Mr. Tyrome Grant is principal.