Change Challenge Enters Final Two Days
We really want to count those pennies. Seriously.
The talk of Tuesday evening’s very fun and well-attended Fall Picnic was Johnson Elementary’s second grade. Following an exacting weekend tally conducted by your friendly neighborhood PTO in conjunction with independent observers at Price Waterhouse Cooper, everyone already knew that the second graders held a strong lead at the halfway point of the 2024 Change Challenge, but many wanted to see it with their own eyes, wanted to gaze upon the mighty pile of coins beneath the leafy green emergent layer of cash cover for themselves. Dozens felt the unavoidable tug of the top of the jug, the eye drawn to the perfect little porthole that opens on the bounty below. They stood before the table and hefted the jugs for weight, bent them over to watch the coins slide around like so much sand, heavy and tidal. Young and old alike squeezed one eye shut as they bent over the big blue bottles, trying to gauge how much silver twinkled among the dull copper, a monocular window into the world of coin below that told them the same story over and over again—a story of second grade domination.
“There’s just so many of them,” other grades said about the second grade. “It’s just not fair! They have a whole extra class,” was a commonly heard lament. “They are a philanthropic boot stamping on the faces of every other grade, forever,” cried one surprisingly well-read and expressive kindergartner. And it’s true. Last year’s Change Challenge champions, the first graders, have become this year’s Change Challenge Goliaths. The second grade is the 800-pound gorilla in this competition, and this 800-pound gorilla wants both an ice cream party and to turn Principal Mickens into a human ice cream sundae. Again. Who dares deny the 800-pound gorilla what it wants?
Only two days remain for some bold few to step in and stop the inevitable. Is the 2024 Change Challenge to proceed according to demographic destiny, or can the fourth grade—more mature, perhaps more cunning—muster the strength and determination to overcome the second grade’s superior numbers through sheer force of will? Only time will tell.
There are two ways to participate in the 2024 Change Challenge. There is the traditional, public-facing, cash and coin in the jug method. And then there is the sneaky way. Out of the all-seeing public eye, beyond the scrutiny of hundreds of elementary school children traipsing through the school lobby, watching as their classmates add coins to an ever-rising tide. There is VENMO.
If you would like to contribute to your kid’s grade’s Change Challenge fundraising effort but don’t have the coin or cash on hand to send them to school with at the moment, just click the button below. Venmo the PTO some funds, and the total will be added to your kid’s grade’s jug. Just make sure you mention what grade you’re contributing to in the note for the payment, and we’ll make sure it counts.
But be sure to keep the change and cash coming for the next couple of days. We’ll announce the winner on Monday. Thanks!
The other thing people were talking about at the Fall Picnic—besides second grade totalitarian fundraising supremacy and the positively delightful pea salad—was the lack of good size options available at the Johnson gear table. Below, then, is a link to the Learning Leopards Gear store, with t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies ranging in sizes from Youth XS to Adult 5XL. It’s finally starting to feel like fall out there—how about a Johnson hoodie or long-sleeved tee to keep you cozy? Check it out!
And don’t forget…
Thanks! Talk to you soon.