The students of Stafford Elementary spent the month of April having a “penny war.” With the help of the Stafford PTO and teachers, the students collected their loose change to promote Autism Awareness. The class that raised the most change would win a pizza party. Mrs. Shannon Wegener’s 5th grade class raised $251, the highest individual class total.

On Friday, students from Mrs. Wegener’s 5th grade class and representatives from the Stafford PTO presented a check in the amount of $881.81 to Emily Oliver. Ms. Oliver is the owner of Campfire Creek, a therapeutic riding center. The Campfire Creek website site states that “Our mission is to offer HOPE to our families and participants while improving the quality of life for children and adults with physical, mental, emotion, behavioral, social and spiritual needs by providing activities through interaction with the equine family and the agricultural environment.”

In a Facebook post, Ms. Oliver stated that, “Campfire Creek was blessed beyond measure today by a bunch of good hearted students at Stafford Elementary (and their teachers who encouraged them)!” She also went on to say that, “These students are learning early to be thoughtful of others!”

The Stafford Elementary PTO and students would like to give a special thank you to Jenn and Brent Moreno. They presented the idea to the PTO and sponsored the pizza party for the winning class.