“Snow” fell from the ceiling of the Panther Valley Elementary School gym Tuesday as students sang along with their principal to “Let It Go” from the movie Frozen.

The snow machine and singalong were rewards for students smashing their goal during a fundraiser for a local nonprofit.

“We had to help the kids,” said kindergarten student Bridgette Schaeffer.

During a recent change drive, the students raised over $5,000 for Turn to Us, a local organization which is building a specialized gym for children with sensory processing disorders, special needs and autism.

“Today was fantastic to see the kids’ reaction, and to share with them what their money is going toward,” said Alicia Kline, founder of Turn to Us. “And to see their reaction to the snow during “Let It go,” it was absolutely beautiful.”

The change drive, an annual event at Panther Valley Elementary, has been taking place for the better part of a decade, usually during the Scholastic book fair. Each day of the week, students bring in a different denomination — pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters.

Along the way they get incentives like pizza parties, and for teachers, credit to spend on books at the book fair.

In years past, the fundraiser has benefited other schools, causes and helped them build a playground at the school.

This year, the school chose Turn to Us and its sensory gym project.

Autism now affects one in 59 children, and sensory processing disorder affects one in six, Kline said. The disorder affects how they react to sound, light and other types of stimulation.

“It affects everything down to putting on clothing,” Kline said.

The nonprofit received a donated building in Nesquehoning, just around the corner from Panther Valley Elementary, and is currently in the process of raising tens of thousands of dollars it needs to purchase specialized equipment.

When the gym opens, it will be available for open play hours and birthday parties as well as special education classes and therapists. Panther Valley students will be among the beneficiaries.

“When I heard the $2,000 goal I was overwhelmed. That’s absolutely so generous, incredible. When they told me it was $5,000, I couldn’t even talk,” Kline said.

Since he became principal, Palazzo has provided big incentives aimed at getting the entire school involved. Two years ago, he ate bugs while a teacher shaved his head. Last year, students dumped slime over Palazzo and several teachers’ heads.

In December, the Panther Valley PTO is taking students to go see “Frozen II.” So Palazzo decided to stay with that theme and give the students a Frozen-themed reward.

Because the students smashed their goal, Palazzo agreed to sing some other “Frozen” songs as well. Dressed as Olaf the snowman, he led them in “In Summer” and “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”

Before the grand finale, he traded the Olaf costume for a suit made to look like a Christmas sweater. As the song reached its peak, a machine started shooting out soap bubbles made to look like snow and the students erupted.

Bertha Shreffler, who each year volunteers to run the book fair and takes the responsibility of counting all of the donated change, said Palazzo is an awesome principal.

“He doesn’t do things small, he does things big,” Shreffler said.

Palazzo said a lot of classrooms were very competitive this year. But the best part for him was during the assembly when he asked the students who had brought in change, nearly everyone raised their hand. He said he feels it’s important for students to understand the importance of giving back to those who may be in need starting at a young age.

“It’s not about the big dollars, it’s about a collective effort and how all the change adds up to a bigger value,” Palazzo said.