ROGERS — A celebration of children being planned for next month will not only provide a fun family activity but will help raise money for grants that support the Rogers Public Schools.
The Rogers Public Education Foundation Board will hold its fourth annual Celebration of Children Festival from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 4 at Rogers Heritage High School. Tickets are $5 for all ages and include free food. Usually located at Rogers High School, this is the first year the festival has been held at Heritage. The foundation plans to alternate the event between RHS and Heritage, said Paula Wilson, foundation executive director.
"Heritage opened last year, but we held off holding it there a year, considering it was their first year to open," she said. "Our plan is to go back and forth between the two campuses."
More than 30 community organizations are already signed up to have booths at the event. Included in the activities will be the Benton County Sheriff's Office helicopter, a Rogers Fire Department truck, the Daisy Air Gun Target Practice trailer, and an inflatable moonwalk sponsored by CASA of Northwest Arkansas.
There will be a wildlifecomponent to the festival, as the parent-teacher organizations from Lingle and Oakdale middle schools, as well as Frank Tillery and Garfield elementary schools, join together to bring in the "Birds of Prey" exhibit from Little Rock. That exhibit will feature four kinds of birds, Wilson said.
The Heritage High School PTO is sponsoring another wildlife exhibit - the Little Rock Zoo will bring a bald eagle. The Ozark Natural Science Center will share information about various animal tracks. Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area will have a booth offering information about the park's eagle-spotting tours on Beaver Lake.
Besides the games, animal life and other activities, there will be an art festival, sponsored by Les and Linda Carnine. This year, both two- and threedimensional categories will be available, and the entries will be on display in the high school's commons.
All the fun and activities have a purpose - the ticket proceeds will go to provide grants for Rogers classrooms, according to a news release from the foundation. Each year, the foundation provides about $20,000 in grants to teachers to help the them enhance the learning environment for students.
For more information, contact Wilson at 621-1638 or [email protected].
Area, Pages 2 on 09/20/2009