Uniontown kids rake in the (cookie) dough

Top seller Kyle Rhoades, right, stands with second-place seller Aissa Kimaya and third-place seller Kaydra Woods among boxes of cookies dough and desserts children at West Bourbon Elementary sold as the school's annual fundraiser.(Laurie Sisk/Tribune)

UNIONTOWN -- It's one of the biggest events during the fall semester, and this year, West Bourbon Elementary students kept pace with their remarkable history of fundraising. Youngsters at the school sold $22,981 worth of cookie dough and other items to purchase needed supplies for their school.

The campus will keep about 40 percent of their sales, for a net total of more than $9,000. Principal Tracy Smith said this year's funds have yet to be earmarked for any specific purchase, but he noted he would be meeting with WBE Student Council members to see how it might be spent.

Last year, the students used their sales skills to peddle more than $21,000 worth of cookie dough and other products. The school keeps 40 percent of the money collected and the company sponsoring the fundraiser keeps 60 percent. The $8,500 the students collected last year enabled the school to furnish each of its 16 classrooms with Elmo projectors, which are a visual option for learning.

West Bourbon Elementary Principal Tracy Smith, left, looks over some of the large collection of boxes filled with cookie dough and other fundraising items at the school on Tuesday.(Laurie Sisk/Tribune)

"In a very focused two-week period; it's a great fundraiser," Smith said.

Smith said there would be a party in December for all kids who met their sales goals.

Fourth-grader Kyle Rhoades led all students with 86 items totaling $1,183. Aissa Kimaya sold 55 items for a total of $765 and Kaydra Woods took third place with 43 items totaling $588.

Rhoades confessed that much of the credit should go to his mother, Carolyn Rhoades, and that his secret to success was to "just go to people that you know."

Looking at his stack of 10 boxes to be delivered to customers, Rhoades had one comment.

"It's going to be a long day of unloading," Rhoades said.

Rhoades was rewarded handsomely for his sales, winning a multitude of prizes, including a remote-controlled plane.

"I was trying to get to 99 items, but I just couldn't do it," Rhoades said. "If you get to 99, you get a $100 bill. I just didn't have any more people to go around to."

Fourth-graders at WBE took the prize for class with most sales. Amber Ericson's fourth-graders sold $2,021 and Katie Bradbury's fourth-graders sold $3,493 for a combined $5,514. All WBE fourth-graders will be rewarded with a pizza party next Tuesday, sponsored by the WBE Student Council. Third-graders at the school took second place with $3,752 in sales and second-graders took third with $3,241.