It was held from 4 to 6 p.m. for elementary school students from the Shawnee Mission district from underprivileged homes.
“The carnival is a fun event for the Head Start students,” Student Council sponsor Sarah Dent said. “Since the students already have two events in the fall and winter, we made the carnival in the spring.” The two other events for Head Start students are the Head Start Halloween carnival and Adopt-a-Tot.

While StuCo hosted the event, other clubs, including French club, The Girl Effect, Arts and Crafts club, Mural club and Key Club, participated by contributing games, prizes and activities for the Head Start students. Spirit Club, Club 121, Future Teachers of America and girls’ soccer also participated.

“There [were] many carnival-type games, since After-Prom donated some games,” junior Anna Feyerherm said. “Girls’ soccer did hair spray-painting, and StuCo did many of the games.”

Other games included a sack race, musical chairs and a ring toss. Each club runs games of their choosing.

“[The carnival] went really well, although not many [Headstart students] showed up, since we only publicized by e-mail,” Feyerherm said.

The Spring Carnival was funded by the Rock-Paper-Scissors tournament and StuCo. The tournament brought in $200, and the rest was paid for by StuCo and participating clubs. StuCo coordinators junior Erica Austin and senior Anna Feyerherm ran the carnival.

“This [was] the carnival’s first year, and we’re really excited,” Dent said. “We really hope we can keep doing this for years to come.”

-Michael Griffin

The event will take place April 19 on the track. Students needed to contribute a minimum of $40 to the Shalom House, a local homeless shelter, by April 9th in order to participate.

Members of StuCo, CCC, varsity drill team, Amnesty International, Interact Club, IB, Key Club, Coalition and NHS sleep in homemade, cardboard boxes as a reminder of the struggle the homeless endure to find shelter.

“It’s a way for students to have a better understanding of what it’s like to sleep on the ground in a box, not in a bed, with no shower to wake up to,” senior Emily Ferbezar said. “It puts them in the mind set of not having the normal luxuries of the every day life we experience.”

Head Start is a pre-kindergarten program for students from under-privileged families. Head Start was started in 2004 to give the give students from families that need extra financial help more opportunities.

“The kids are so sweet. We give them opportunities to feel important,” Student Council sponsor Sarah Dent said.

For Adopt-a-Tot, students donated money to their fourth hour classes, then students bought gifts for the tots they have been assigned. On Friday, the tots come to NW and are given the gifts. They open some of the presents at the time they are given to them, and save some for Christmas Day. This year, there are more teachers than ever before participating in Adopt-a-Tot.

“It’s the most important and most emotional event we [StuCo] do all year long because we can see what we’re doing in their [the tot's] lives,” Dent said.