SAXONBURG — For the first time in the Superspeller’s history, students at South Butler Primary collected the most money for the American Lung Association for two consecutive years.

Regional vice president Debra Payerchin on Wednesday presented a plaque to 200 fourth graders for collecting more than $14,000 for the year. The students raised $3,000 more than the previous year and several thousand more than the next highest school, Payerchin said.

Statewide, 62 schools participated in the program last school year.

Students who were third graders during the 2004-05 school year collected pledges from the community. At the end of the school year, all nine classrooms were given a 100-word spelling test that reviewed the year’s words.

The number of words — such as “giraffe” and “hurrying” — that the students spelled correctly determined how much the students collected. Five students collected more than $300 each.

Third-grade teacher Ann McDonald coordinates the Superspeller program at the primary school.

“The kids know from the first day they are in third grade they will be working for this,” McDonald said.

The program began in the central part of the state and expanded statewide six years ago.

“We get a lot of junk in our mailboxes,” McDonald said. But, when she saw the information about the Superspeller program, McDonald said it looked like something that might motivate the students.

With the permission of the principal, she involved her students. She worked with other teachers and this was the third year all third-grade classrooms participated. Since 2000, South Butler has raised more than $40,000 for the American Lung Association, Payerchin said.

The association provides rewards such as T-shirts and water bottles for students who reach monetary benchmarks and there is friendly competition between classrooms for a traveling trophy.

Payerchin spoke to the fourth-grade students about the importance of healthy lungs before presenting the award. When she asked who in the class had asthma, more than 20 students raised their hands.

The money raised by students across the state will be used for many causes, including a camp for youths with asthma.