On Friday, October 10, 2014, Eisenhower Elementary School hosted its annual Halloween carnival, the Eisenhowler. This event is neither for dogs nor wolves, but instead for Upper St. Clair panthers and their families to enjoy food and games.

Upon entering the school, families were met with tables of jars filled with various items including York Peppermint patties, Hershey’s Kisses, and other assorted candies. Children had the opportunity to guess the number of items in each jar and the winners got to keep the jars.

In addition to the guessing jars, the community put together raffle baskets, including one with a signed Ben Roethlisberger football. Some Eisenhowler games included kid-friendly soccer, a football toss, bowling, and mini-golf.

For many students, it was their first time participating in a raffle. They enjoyed perusing the raffle baskets and dropping their tickets in corresponding jars. Michael, a student at Eisenhower Elementary, commented that “[his] favorite part about the Eisenhowler [was] the raffle baskets and all the games.”

In the gym, many activities were arranged and run by volunteers. The “Cake Walk” is a huge hit every year. Children play a game similar to musical chairs, but on flat squares with numbers. When the music stops, a number is picked, and the child on that number can pick a dessert from the long table of donated goodies.

In the classrooms, activities, such as Splinko, Spin Art, and face painting, were featured for kids to visit. Also, kids could have their hair sprayed different colors outdoors.

There were games geared towards the youngest children, too. For example, the Lollipop tree entailed children randomly selecting a lollipop and checking the end of the stick for a colored dot. If there was a dot, a prize was awarded to the child. There was also another similar game in which children chose a rubber ducky.

Many volunteers were high school students who enjoy working with kids. Abbey Ciancio, an Upper St. Clair High School senior, worked at the soccer station collecting soccer balls and helping kids score goals.

Kristy English, also a senior who helped Ciancio, discussed her favorite part of volunteering: “Probably seeing how excited the kids got. And they had a great night, so it was fun.”

Both English and Ciancio take the Childcare and Development class offered at the high school, a course that allows students to be teachers for the high school’s preschool class.

Dinner was served throughout the entire event in the elementary school’s cafeteria, known as “Cafe Ike.” There, children and families enjoyed an assortment of food, including delicious Halloween-themed cupcakes and brownies.

Throughout the entire evening, children of all ages raced through the elementary school hallways to try every game, food, and activity. As elementary school student Hannah put it, the most popular attraction was “playing all the games.”

Both students and families left the Eisenhowler with full stomachs, prizes, art, and even some wonderful raffle baskets.  By the end of the night, everyone agreed that they had a howlin’ good time!