As the clock ticks down to Super Bowl Sunday and the Los Angeles Rams get ready to take on New England, another great Souper Bowl is taking place right in our area.

The four school buildings that make up the Pleasant Valley district are competing to see which school can collect the most cans of soup to aid the West End Food Pantry.

The competition, which kicked off earlier this month, runs through Jan. 31, and the Pleasant Valley High School and Pleasant Valley Elementary School are neck-and-neck to win the trophy.

“The high school reached out to us, and we said yes of course,” said Jaclyn James, president of the National Honor Society at Pleasant Valley Middle School. “We love helping the West End Food Pantry.”

According to NHS adviser Lisa Wojton, the middle school students also spend one Saturday a month volunteering at the food pantry, where they run grocery carts.

“The food pantry serves over 300 families a month,” Wojton said. “These are members of our community, and by helping, the kids learn awareness, empathy and a real sense of responsibility to their community.”

The middle school has collected 280 cans so far.

At the high school the numbers are much higher. As of Thursday morning the high school students had collected 1,200 cans, which equals 102 yards. The high school has set a goal of 2,019 cans of soup.

“One of our apprentices, senior Sierra Borger, came up with how we would measure yardage,” said Melissa Ruschak, Business Career Apprentice adviser at PVHS. “Each 10 cans of Progresso soup (19 ounces) are equal to one yard. Thirteen cans of regular Campbell’s soup (10¾ oz.) equals one yard.”

Principal Todd Breiner is impressed with the giving nature of his students and their families at Pleasant Valley Intermediate.

“They are getting an opportunity to basically give to those who are in need,” Breiner said. “I am completely and utterly amazed by the amount of giving and caring we have in this community.”

Breiner added that he knows that some of his students benefit from the generosity of the other students in the district, and it makes him happy to know that his students get such pleasure from helping.

“The giving nature of this community is amazing.”

PVI has collected nearly 500 cans of soup, with more cans sitting in the office waiting to be added to the display. PVI has set a goal of 1,000 cans. If the students reach the goal, they will earn a dress-down day.

The tiniest students in the district are bringing it home and have already met their goal of 100 yards of soup.

As of last Thursday morning, the Pleasant Valley Elementary students had already collected more than 1,350 cans of soup and had earned a “Super Jersey” dress down day.

On the Thursday before Super Bowl Sunday, the elementary students will be permitted to wear their favorite team or superhero jersey to school.