Jefferson Elementary School students raised $348.17, and the PTO chipped in $100 in a fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. “Jeffypups will make a Change” was the theme of the event. For one week, students brought in loose change, and staff collected the money every morning.

“It was really neat to see the kids’ faces as they brought their bags and pocketfuls of money in each morning,” Janice Miller, counselor at Jefferson, said. “We had no idea they had brought the amount in that was donated. It was such a great feeling as those totals kept getting bigger.”

After seeing how much money the students raised, the Jefferson PTO decided to chip in another $100, PTO President Robin Bartlett said.

Dana Atwell, physical education teacher, and Pam Darnall, teacher/noon aide, came up with the idea for the fundraiser. They contacted the high school FFA, which was coordinating a much larger drive for donations for hurricane victims, and presented a check for $448.17 to FFA President Emilie Magnus at an all-school assembly Sept. 16.