VALDOSTA — Southeast Elementary School students got a sweet treat on Thursday when they were taken for a limousine ride.

The 18 kindergartners from teacher Danielle Gibbs and paraprofessional Judy Cumbess’ class raised more than $400 for the school’s annual penny drive and were treated to a limousine ride and pizza at CiCi’s Pizza.

The penny drive is in its sixth year at Southeast Elementary School, Principal Alvin Hudson said.

“People don’t mind giving pennies,” he said. “They think they have no value.”

A former teacher, Sarah Solomon, started the penny drive in order to raise funds to buy school supplies for students.

Betty Mathis, bookkeeper and registrar, now manages the penny drive.

“A penny is less than what we should invest in them, but we got to start somewhere,” she said. “The children are our future.”

Around Christmas and after Christmas, Hudson said, teachers begin to notice that students don’t have much-needed supplies like pencils and paper.

The funds raised from the penny drive — $1,151 this year — purchase those supplies so they will be available for students, Hudson said.

The penny drive is conducted over a month and promotes a friendly competition between grades, he said.

Since the Valdosta City School System reconfigured the rest of its elementary schools this year to kindergarten through fifth grade, it was the first year kindergartners had participated, Hudson said.

Each classroom has a jar where the students drop off their pennies. The students are also tasked with counting the money they have raised, he said.

Hudson said the drive promotes a sense of pride in the school. “They know what the funds are going to be used for,” he said.

Second place went to Whitney Williams’ kindergarten class, which will receive an ice cream party courtesy of Dan Davis of Davis Creations, and third place went to Robin Anderson’s second grade class, which will receive a popcorn party provided by Arizona Chemical Company.

All the businesses involved in awarding prizes are Community Partners in Education, Hudson said.