The Colonia Middle School hosted its yearly festival on October 8, 2014. The members of the PTO worked to make a night full of games and scares for the middle school students to enjoy.
This info graphic shows information on Halloween attractions for the fall season.
For the past three years at Colonia Middle School, the PTO sets up a carnival to raise money as well as entertain students; this year the event fell on October 8th from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. However, the carnival for the 2014 year was hosted in the fall season rather than the spring. In past years, the carnival was held towards the end of the school year. It was held both outside and in the cafeteria in previous years. They included carnival games and prizes and last year’s carnival included a bouncy house. Overall, the CMS Carnival was a success. In previous years, the carnival raised between $500 and $1,200. This year, the school raised $1,200 due to the Halloween Carnival. Tickets for an admission wristband were $2.00. The photo booth cost was also $2.00. The Haunted Library was $1.00 for each time you went in and tickets to play games were $5.00 for ten tickets and $10.00 for 25 tickets.
It appears to look like zombies looking out of the wood. These were some of the decorations set up for the event.
The carnival for the year of 2014 was Halloween themed and ended with pretty good results. The newest additions to the carnival were the photo booth and The Haunted Library. The Haunted Library attracted the Colonia Middle School students. The kids were lead by Caren Brock, otherwise known as the witch, as she told the story of the ghost kids hanging around in the library. Colonia High School Students who volunteered were dressed up in costumes ready to jump out at those who dared to enter. One of the high school volunteers, Samantha DiCosimo said “I didn’t get to see anything besides the Haunted Library walkthrough, because I was working there the whole time, but I did enjoy the library. The decorations were awesome and scaring the kids was really fun.” The Library was set up in rows. The entrance/exit was a blow-up arch that sang creepy music as the students passed. The beginning was a scarecrow walkway that lead to bookshelves filled with cobwebs. Following the old library setting was a haunted graveyard. Volunteers were hidden throughout the different settings. The night was intended to be scary for the students who attended, and to be fun as well. Several carnival games were set up with prizes like stuffed animals, blow ups, sunglasses, and even goldfish. The food consisted of pretzels, popcorn and candy. Some beverages included iced tea, water, and soda. “I enjoyed the Halloween carnival very much,” a middle school student Cheyanne Weiner said. “My favorite thing about the carnival was the Haunted library. That was my favorite because of all the jump scares and watching my friend’s reactions was hilarious.”
Taken at the beginning of the entrance, here is what the Haunted Library looks like with the lights on.
The Colonia Middle School Carnival was pretty successful. The PTO raised more money for the school and students who attended got to play games, get scared, and celebrate the Halloween season. According to DiCosimo the carnival was a success because “lots of people came and many people said they enjoyed it.” Volunteers along with members involved with the production of the carnival said they would do it again in next year’s carnival.
