Classes at St. Theodore Catholic School competed against each other to see who could bring in the most nonperishable food items.

The third-grade class won the food drive and received a pizza party for lunch. The school’s secretary, Jean Calderon, divided the number of items by the number of students in each class to see which had the highest percentage. Calderon said some students even took money from their own savings or birthday gifts to purchase food they brought in.

“It was fun — they were comparing the number of items,” Calderson said.

Almost 1,800 items were brought in by students, and the school partnered with Nelson’s Market Place’s Fill a Truck food drive. The school does its own food drive with Nelson’s, while St. Theodore Catholic Church collects food items for a separate food drive.

“We’ve done this for the past five years,” Calderon said.

Calderon said students were counting items daily and competing against other classes. Some students even brought in foodstuffs the last day to try to get a competitive advantage.

“They really enjoyed it,” Calderon said. “The lesson we were hoping they learned was sharing what you have.”

The third-grade class that won is made up of Elise Grzybowski, Cynthia Herrera, Josie Bolinger, Emma Abts, Titus Wray, Brittanny Berreda-Yebra, Ally Rasmussen, Emma Vogt and Dominica Eckstrom. They’re led by teacher Amanda Lares and the Rev. Tim Reker and Deacon Mike Ellis.