It was not a fast get-a-way at Monticello High School when a Loomis armored truck from Salt Lake City pulled up to the school and volunteers loaded 231 fifty-pound sacks of pennies.

The pennies were collected by the students in prior years and used to help build the new community swimming pool.

Workers came up with more than one way to transport the slippery sacks, including dollies, boxes and skateboards. However, most were just trucked by hand from the office to the curb. Students spent almost four weeks counting and sacking the coins.

The school thought there would be one million coins, but the preliminary count is more than 1,150,000. The official count by the bank will let the school know exactly how many pennies were donated.

Staff photos