American Leadership Academy is having their first ever Halloween Carnival on Halloween day from 1 to 4 p.m. Everyone is invited to the school for this family friendly event.

The carnival is being held in two buildings of the ALA campus. All of the events will be inside so rain or cold weather will not affect the participant's comfort level. Booths and games are sponsored by classrooms or school clubs or teams. They have really been creative coming up with fun games and activities for the participants. All of the proceeds from their booth will be for use in their classroom or club.

Mrs. Young's 5th grade class is sponsoring a fish toss. Throw a ping pong ball into a cup with a fish in it and if the ball stays in the cup you win the fish. "I expect that booth will be really popular with all of the kids who have always yearned for their "very own pet," laughs the carnival's chairman, Beth Pearson.

Parents will be reminded of the school carnivals they attended when they were kids. Throwing darts at balloons, tossing bean bags or knocking down cans are just some of the games available. There will also be a ring toss, fish pond, mini golf area and Pin the Nose of the Witch.

What is a Halloween party without a cake walk or donuts on a string? This school carnival will have all of those as well as some new ideas. A soda pop walk will be popular for kids as well as parents hoping to win a little sugar and caffeine to boost their energy levels. "Wheel of Sports" in the library will bring out the competitor in everyone as participants shoot Nerf bullets at targets, dribble a soccer ball through obstacles and show off their throwing accuracy while being timed. Winning times at the end of the day will get an extra prize.

Face painting and colored hair spray booths can be found among the booths in the elementary school. Even those who think they are "too old to dress up" might enjoy a little color or sparkle added to their Halloween look. Parents can quit worrying about their little kitty cat having the right amount of whiskers or their Frankenstein being properly scarred. "Let someone with more patience add these finishing touches to the kids' Halloween costumes," says room mom Aime Cook. It's only 1 or 2 tickets depending on how much makeup and time it takes."

All of the booths will need tickets to participate. Tickets are 50 cents each. If you buy your tickets before Thursday, October 29, you can save 10% for every $10 spent. Tickets are available at the Elementary or Jr. High School front desks from 8:30 until 3:30 p.m. on school days. They will also be available at the carnival.

"Halloween on a Saturday is hard," says Sarajane Gardner. "Little kids are so excited to go Trick or Treating, they are dressed and in their costumes by noon. My kids don't go to ALA but this school carnival will give us something fun to do while we wait for evening and time to go Trick or Treating."

Blythe and Mark Anderson are over the food for the carnival. They are using their long time restaurant experience to be able to offer delectable food at a very reasonable cost. Potato-Cheese soup, chili and Hot dogs will be available for just $1.50 each. These will be served with a complimentary cup of lemonade and you'll find other economical choices to round out your meal. Hot chocolate, peach cobbler, popcorn and cotton candy will also be available in the cafeteria. All of the food is $1.50 or less. Feed your family an inexpensive and easy dinner at the school and they will be ready to go Trick or Treating upon arriving back home.

Costume Awards will be given out. You'll want to come into the Elementary cafeteria at the bottom of the hour to see how your costume rates. A small stage and microphone will give everyone their chance to shine.

A highlight of the carnival might just be the Spook Alleys. Drama department chair, Elaine Hansen has been working on ideas and plans since the Spring. Now the entire department is firmly entrenched in getting things ready for the Spook Alley because there will be two separate alleys going on during the carnival. The spook alley will be scary and fun for most kids. There will also be a "Not-so-Scary Alley" with friendly characters that young kids love to see. That room will be transformed into a fairyland with castles, princes, and princesses. Each spook alley will be four tickets with a $1 savings for those who do both.

"We are running a spook alley for the kids during the carnival from 1 to 4," says Hansen. "Then we are opening again from 6 to 8 p.m. for the really scary spook alley. There will be a little more blood, a little more action, and a lot more scare in the evening.

I think adults and kids from about 5 or 6th grade up will have fun at the evening spook alley."

No matter what other plans you have for Halloween, you will want to make time for a trip to American Leadership Academy. ALA is located off of Del Monte Road at 898 West 1100 South in Spanish Fork.