The Annual Carnival: A School Tradition for Many Generations

Once a year our gym at school turns into a traditional carnival. Since we are a K-12 school the middle school and high school students set up booths that include games of chance, balloon sales, a lollipop tree,and Bingo. Elders that remember taking their children to the carnival are now watching their grandchildren and great-grandchildren enjoy the games and fun. I have been here long enough now that I have former students bringing their young children in strollers to try the Fish Pond or Tiger Basketball.Of course there was also a cake walk, but now the cakes all have to be baked at school by people who are certified food handlers. It was a popular event all evening. There was also a jail that people used tickets to have someone thrown in . That also was very popular. Whew! I escaped being thrown in jail.These are the booths our middle school students were in charge of tonight. They did an impressive job decorating them with bright colors. This was right before the doors were open for customers. My favorite booth decor was the Fish Pond done by a few of my artistic students. Each class in the high school has king and queen candidates. The king and queen are chosen by the amount of raffle tickets they sell. The stage is decorated beautifully for the crowning held at the end of the evening. One of my students came to get the staple gun again, but had to show off his prizes: a great smiley face hat, pink sunglasses, and handcuffs. Bingo continues long into the night until all the prizes are given away. Kids go home with bags of prizes and tired smiles on their faces. A fortunate few will go home with raffle prizes. Staff members keep an eye on the clock knowing soon they can go home and sit in an easy chair and put up their feet!

It is well worth it all!