Nov. 2 marked the end of this year’s Penny Queen Week. This year’s penny queens were Ceci Connolly (’24), Chloe LaCanfora (’23), Kayla Schatz (’22), and Ellie deFries (’21). During Penny Queen Week, the goal for Penny Queens is to raise the most money, organize fundraisers, and ignite class spirit with creative costumes. Last year’s fundraisers included girls paying to cut a piece of Ellie’s hair, raffle baskets, and an ice cream sundae bar. This year, due to COVID-19, most fundraisers were non-contact, like random acts of kindness points and raffle baskets. The Barrys also sold their famous muffins and donated a portion of profits to each class. Now, let’s hear firsthand from each Penny Queen what they are planning this year and next year.

In addition to raffle baskets, some other fundraisers included the Senior class selling shirts and masks, and all of the Penny Queens doing fun dares given to them by their class for money. Junior class Penny Queen Kayla wore a big heart costume to remind her class to do their 20 acts of kindness, as well as a school bus costume to encourage donations to the Stuff-A-Bus campaign for the Caroline Center and Holy Angels Catholic School. Other Penny Queen costumes included a Rubix cube, Willy Wonka, and animals like a giraffe and a lion. Some ways each Penny Queen encouraged their class to participate were reminding them that it is for many good causes and sending videos of them in costume to get everyone excited.

Here are some of the Penny Queen’s goals for next year when the pandemic will hopefully be over: Ceci (’24) wants to think more out-of-the-box for fundraising ideas, Chloe (’23) plans to continue doing dares next year and sell baked goods, and Kayla (’22) plans to relax with her class and be more interactive for senior year. Ellie (’21), who has been Penny Queen for the past four years, has some advice for anyone wanting to get involved or be a future Penny Queen. She says, “You are meant to be a cheerleader for everyone else fundraising as well as an example of class spirit so don’t feel like all the responsibility should fall on you. Use all of your resources like the court and friends because Penny Queen is a group effort from the class, too.” If you aren’t sure if you want to get involved, Ellie says that she has grown more confident in her skin and now she isn’t afraid to be bold and do crazy stuff, so it can definitely turn into a life skill. You don’t have to be Penny Queen or a Penny Princess to become confident, but it’s definitely a great way to get involved and get to know your classmates. Best of luck to our Penny Queens!