If there's one thing Stacey Penner knows about Henderson Elementary School in Dauphin, it's how generous they are.
From the students to the staff to parents, and everything in between. About six years ago, Henderson received funds raised through the Smile Cookie campaign at Tim Hortons in Dauphin.
"And so, we always like to support the campaign and give back," said Penner.
And give back is exactly what Henderson Elementary School did last week. They've been selling Smile Cookies at the school for years, but they went above and beyond this year.
"It's not always convenient for our families to go to Tim Hortons," added Penner. "We didn't put a limit on how many cookies could be purchased by our Henderson families; we opened it up large this year."
At the spring's Smile Cookie campaign, which ended over the weekend, the numbers are in at Henderson. Over $900 was raised.
Those funds will be donated to the Countryfest Community Cinema. Penner says the students love watching movies at the CCC in Dauphin, and we're happy to be raising money for a great cause.
"So when you explain what the cause of the smile cookie is going to, it gets the student body and families really excited to support such a good and worthy cause," continued Penner. "There was a smile cookie buzz in the building. The first reason everyone loves a good smile cookie. Secondly, the students understand where their contributions are going. They want to help."
Penner said she's thrilled to be a part of the Henderson family. She is also proud of the students for taking part.
Giving back is a wonderful thing to do. It sets the bar for lifelong learning. If you can give back to your community, it's an important skill.
"It's really fun to work into math and ELA. I know my grade five students, we ended up calculating and counting the money schoolwide on our own," ended Penner. "Figuring out how many cookies were sold and how many more were needed to be sold to reach our goal. You can really incorporate it through the subject areas as well."
Henderson Elementary School hit it out of the park with sales of smile cookies last week, and students and staff are already looking forward to their next chance to give back.
