Local school will host Halloween carnival to raise funds for new playground
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TETON — A parent-teacher organization is putting together a Halloween carnival in hopes it will raise funds for a new elementary school playground.
Brianne Garner, PTO vice president at Teton Elementary School, said the playground that needs to be replaced is on the west side of the school. It’s used by third- through fifth-graders and is more than 25 years old.
“There was a chain for climbing and various monkey bars that have broken and become unsafe to play on, so they have had to be removed. There was also a rope swing that had to be removed,” Garner said. “There’s just not a lot of funds. It’s a very tiny community, but we have been trying our best to do what we can.”
There will be a Halloween Carnival Night at the school at 126 West Main Street on Saturday, Oct. 19, from 4 to 7 p.m. There will be face painting, carnival games, a spook bus, food trucks, treats and prizes.
Students are selling raffle tickets for the event in order to earn money for the playground. Raffle prizes include a 50-inch smart TV, Nintendo Switch, outdoor fire pit, tires from Les Schwab and more.
Garner said people who can’t attend the carnival can help by buying raffle tickets, and they don’t have to be in attendance to win. People can pay for the tickets via cash, Venmo @Tetonelementarypto or check. Tickets are $1 each or six for $5. Email Garner for more information at Brianneg@sd215.net.
Garner said all the food trucks coming have agreed to donate a portion of their sales back to the school to go toward the playground equipment.
There’s also a chance to win large prize packages in person.
“We will be playing bingo, and we have a ton of awesome prizes for that. All of the prizes at minimum are worth $200 at least and it goes all the way up to about $800,” Garner said. “We have gotten a ton of donations from sponsors all around Rexburg, St. Anthony, Ashton.”
The prizes range and include things like toy tractors, teeth whitening, car detailing, dinner passes, movie tickets, an Ashton Log Cabin three-night stay, breakfast for two, a $100 gift card to LongHorn Steakhouse, and more.
“For bingo, if you win, you will get 10 tickets to put towards any of those big prizes. That will go into basically another raffle … so you are playing bingo to win tickets that go into raffles for those big prizes,” Garner explained.
Garner said they hope to raise at least $100,000 at the carnival for the new playground.
“We just want to invite (everyone) to come and play bingo, eat the food, and enjoy being part of the community. Even if they don’t have kids that go to the school, if everyone does a little bit, a little bit adds up, and we can make the school and community a better place,” Garner said. “It’s going to be an awesome night!”
