A Haunting Halloween

Every Halloween, the PODER Learning Center has it's annual Haunted House for the kids of the Allen Woods Homes neighborhood and surrounding area. This year was exceptionally "frightening" with the help of the Allen Woods Resident Assembly members, volunteers from Texas State, and the Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity!


As the school bus made a stop in front of the PODER Learning Center, kids with giant smiles on their faces were ready in costume for the day ahead. After eating and getting everyone settled into two groups with chaperons (our van can only carry 11 passengers and 1 driver so we had to take multiple trips), we headed to Springtown Villa, another San Marcos Housing Authority site that house elderly and disabled residents. The kids had a fantastic time trick-or-treating and the adults had a great time giving treats to them.

After many trips up and down hallways, the kids congregated and participated in activities varying from arts-and-crafts to fun math worksheets.

After returning to the PODER Learning Center, the children played Zombies vs. Humans, a tag game, outside with some of the volunteers while other volunteers got into place in our haunted house.

We decorated three rooms which included a "Graveyard" with zombies and fog, a "Mad Scientist" room filled with fake guts and brains, and an "Old Man PODER" room filled with a fake body and ghosts. Many of the kids had a good time being scared (and even some adults)!

Last but not least, we had our costume contest with five categories: Coolest, Funniest, Scariest, Most Original, and 1st Place. There were some great contestants, but the volunteers picked our five winners. Pictured below was the winner of Most Original: a puppet.

 
So what made this a successful Halloween? COMMUNITY AND TEAMWORK!! Volunteers that had volunteered from years past came to help with either set up, chaperoning, and/or tear down. Neighborhood residents donated candy for our candy fundraiser and to pass out to kids. Dedicated Resident Assembly members worked all day to set up, be in the haunted house, and tear down. Volunteers came dressed up and played spooky parts in the haunted house. All volunteers stayed until we finished with the tear down (which only took about 45 minutes). A big thank you for making this Halloween a sweet success!