CAMDEN — Camden-Rockport Middle School recently named Coastal Mountains Land Trust the winner of its "Penny War", a feature of its annual Spirit Week, which is filled with fun, silliness, sportsmanship, and a variety of contests between the grades.

One of the contests includes a very competitive "Penny War", in which each of the grades competes to bring in the most pennies. This year the fifth grade brought in a record-setting 18,000 pennies! As winners of the contest, the fifth graders got to vote on a local environmental organization to donate half of their penny war earnings, a total of $500. This year's Spirit Week included activities with a coastal Maine theme, and as a result, the school chose to donate to a local organization that helps to preserve land and water. CRMS hopes to instill in its students the spirit of giving and sense of environmental responsibility.

This year, Coastal Mountains Land Trust is celebrating its 30th anniversary year. The organization is honored to have earned the recognition from the youngest members of the next generation of conservationists and looks forward to working with them in the years to come. Since 1986, Coastal Mountains Land Trust has worked to permanently conserve land to benefit the natural and human communities of the western Penobscot Bay. The Land Trust has protected over 10,000 acres to date, including 40 miles of trails.