An inflatable obstacle course, haunted house, bobbing for donuts and piñatas will be some of the many activities featured at the 23rd annual Halloween Carnival being held at the main campus on Wednesday, Oct. 30 from 5:30-8 p.m.

The cafeteria will host the event in which is open to all elementary and middle school students in the community accompanied by a parent or guardian. Family and consumer sciences teacher Blair Green is helping Student Council organize the event, which also serves as a fundraiser for a variety of clubs, organizations and teams.

“It’s a way to help bring awareness to the community, get them inside our school and see what offerings we have for our future Farmers, as well as be able to raise funds that can go toward whatever supplies, competitions or anything the organizations might be working toward,” Green said.

Tickets for the carnival will be 50 cents each and families must purchase a minimum of $10 to enter. There will also be a concession stand available to purchase food and drinks. Cash and credit cards will also be accepted.

“That was one of the things we did as a control method to control a lot of the attendance, as well as to ensure the event itself is making some income to profit all of these organizations,” Green said.

Organizers said this year’s event will continue to enforce the policy of not letting high school students attend except to volunteer. Guardians must be 18+ to ensure fairness. Student volunteers will be required to wear wrist bands for identification.

“Most high schoolers [who attended in the past just went] to hang out with their friends,” StuCo student body treasurer Foster McNeal said. “The rule helps limit overcrowding and allows kids to participate in games.”

The money earned helps clubs afford equipment and supplies. Each ticket a booth earns will be converted into money or a deposit into the group’s funds.

“Each organization basically chooses what to do with their money,” McNeal said. “For example, football uses it for equipment, cheerleading uses it toward competitions, and StuCo uses it for supplies.”

There will be various security measures to ensure the safety of guests. Admins of all three campuses will be present, as well as the SRO and security team monitoring the entry and exits.

“These measures will make sure everyone is remaining safe,” Green said. “Certain areas will also be blocked off, other than the cafeteria and B and C gyms to avoid children roaming around.”

Preparation for the carnival begins shortly after school starts. StuCo begins recruiting clubs to join the event in early August to give them sufficient time to pick an activity and begin working. The Halloween Carnival generally involves participation of all clubs and organizations.

“It is not just a Student Council event where we have to do all the preparations,” student body vice president Destiny Courtney said. “It takes the weight off of our shoulders, plus I love doing stuff with other organizations. It brings us together.”

Courtney, who is also Spanish Club president, is helping run the Spanish Club’s piñata booth and described the types of prizes available at a typical booth.

“We offer candy and stuffed animals,” Courtney said. “We typically give a stuffed animal to the people who break the piñata and then we give the candy to the kids who obviously try.”

Many booths and games from previous years will return, along with a few new ones, including a slime-making station sponsored by the Killough Student Council. Green highlighted the exposure the event brings for the school’s extra-curricular activities to the next generation of students. 

“It gets our kids excited and interested in organizations that they probably weren’t even aware of,” Green said. “There’s so many different groups they probably would never hear about otherwise, until they got to high school.”

McNeal also noted the positive impact it can have for middle school students preparing to make the transition to high school.

“I think it makes them less nervous about high school,” McNeal said. “Seeing high schoolers wanting to have fun with them eases tensions about coming to high school.”

Last year’s event was unexpectedly met with rain that affected ticket sales. Green said she expects better success this year as the Oct. 30 date serves as a “pre-Halloween” and encourages families to participate and dress up.

“By now students will have their costumes,” Green said. “It’s a way to get more use out of them.”