Photo provided to the Times Observer The Early Childhood Development class at the Warren County Career Center, pictured here, coordinated a “Penny Wars” competition that raised over $2,500 for books that will be given to county preschoolers via Free Books for Kids Town.

This year is year one for the Early Childhood Development class at the Warren County Career Center.

And they’re giving back as a “thank you” for early support that the program has received.

A “Penny Wars” competition among the shops at the Career Center has raised over $2,500 that will provide books for preschoolers via the non-profit Free Books for Kids Town.

“We wanted to show how thankful we were for all the support area preschools have shown for our program by raising money so that we could get a free book in the hands of as many preschoolers in Warren County as we possibly could,” Rachael McClellan, Early Childhood Development Instructor said.

Why preschools? McClellan said that her students in the second and third year of the program will be volunteering in areas daycares and preschools.

A Penny War is exactly what it sounds like, a fundraising competition that, in this instance, pitted the various programs at the career center against each other.

“The Career Center students didn’t let us down,” McClellan said. “There were a couple of shops that went head to head in order to win. Information Technology and Health and Medicine were fierce competitors.”

Ultimately, Protective Services won for the morning group and Culinary won in the afternoon.

“The Culinary students not only donated their own money but also helped raise extra money by donating the profits of cookies they made,” McClellan said.

She added that the STRIVE program students contributed profits from their weekly coffee sales, as well.

“It was a lot of fun to see the competitive spirit come out in different shops and see the fun that the students had with the Penny Wars,” she said. “(I)t’s truly amazing what the kids were able to do.”