With the help of parents, teachers and students, there will be a lot of hee-hawing going on at A.W. Neill Elementary School tonight. The fundraising fun fair was a Gill Elementary School tradition and has been brought over to Neill for the first time this year.

The school’s PAC, the main instigators of the event, decided to take the year off last year following the transition of schools. This year, with some new volunteers and many returning ones, the HeeHaw is back in full force, and includes an Open House for parents. The introduction of kindergarten at the school brought in many new faces to both the school community and volunteer roster.

“The PAC really meshes well and we are all eager to help out as much as possible,” said parent Lindsay Higgins. “We wanted to bring the HeeHaw back because it is such a great and fun thing to bring the school together.”

As an introduction to the school year, it also allows new students and parents to learn about the school and meet teachers.

Tonight’s fair will see many of the activities run by the leadership club’s student volunteers. New this year will be the chicken poop bingo and duct tape challenge. Anyone wishing to attempt to tape co-principals, Mr. Behnke and Mr. Olson, to the wall can purchase a strip of tape. The two will be standing on chairs against the wall while all strips are added. At the end, the principal left stuck the longest once the chair is taken away wins.

“Who doesn’t want to see their principal stuck to the wall?” Higgins said.

Other activities include a petting farm, pony rides, face painting, sidewalk chalk and bubbles stations, a fish pond, and the always popular, cake walk. Occasions Photo Booth will also be there for fun pictures, as well as a bouncy castle and obstacle course from Cyr-ious Party Rentals.

The HeeHaw is the school’s major fundraiser and contributes to an enhanced learning experience for students. Recently purchased are new “Buddy Benches”, which are expected to be installed in the New Year.

“When a student sees someone sitting on one, it is a signal to go over and talk to them,” Higgins said. “They may be feeling alone, anxious, or has no one to play with or is dealing with issues at home. It will help them have someone to talk to without having to get up the courage to go up to someone else themselves.”

Last year instruments were purchased to fill the void of the lack of band classes and this year, the PAC hopes to replace jerseys for track and field to reflect the school’s “elementary” school status. The PAC also helped to fund the transfer of the playground from Gill School to Neill for the younger grades.

Hot lunches, a school-wide pancake breakfast, smart boards and Winter Wonderland are also all made possible by such fundraising.
The HeeHaw makes it easy and fun to help support the school. Open to the public, tickets for activities are only fifty cents each (each activity ranges from one to three tickets) and pizza will be available. It runs tonight from 4pm to 7pm at the school, located at 5055 Compton Road. For more information, check out the Facebook event.