43
Photo
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.A Hilltop Elementary School student put her stacking skills to work as she created a very tall pyramid of cups on March 23.
Photo
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.A group of Hilltop Elementary School students, present and future, had fun playing basketball in the gym during the school’s annual Family Fun Night on March 23.
Photo
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Hilltop Elementary School students lined up to meet the clown balloon artists and receive balloon creations at the school’s annual Family Fun Night on March 23.
Photo
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Two Hilltop Elementary School students were ready for their close-up with some props at the photo booth at the school’s annual Family Fun Night.
By ABBY SLANKER
The Hilltop Elementary School PTO hosted its annual Family Fun Night at the Canfield Village Middle School on March 23. Attendees enjoyed an evening of fun, games and food. In addition to games and activities, the evening included a pizza dinner and a Dairy Queen sundae bar.
Family-friendly games, such as cup stacking, basketball and a bean bag toss, with a photo of Hilltop Principal Joe Maroni as the target, were set up in the front gym of the middle school. The students and their families also enjoyed a dance party with D.J. Anthony in the gym.
The back gym featured three bounce arounds, including a bouncy slide, and speed pitch.
A photo booth and two clown balloon artists making balloon creations for the children were set up in the cafeteria and tattoos and face painting were set up in the hallway, with volunteers helping at those tables.
The event is the PTO’s biggest fundraiser of the year with 100 percent proceeds going back to the school.
“This year, proceeds from our Family Fun Night will go toward all PTO-sponsored activities throughout the school year,” said Mandy Harris, Hilltop PTO president.
Several Hilltop PTO members were on hand to help with all aspects of the event. Canfield High School National Honor Society members also helped with the evening. Janelle Nagy served as Family Fun Night chair.
Lining the hallways outside the back gym were baskets for the Chinese auction, with more than 35 baskets donated by local businesses and students and their families. Deanna Johnson and Kelly Volovar put together all the baskets.
Each class at the school was assigned a theme for a class basket, such as Ohio State, gift cards, lottery tickets, Crayola, family movie night, Nerf, Canfield Cardinals and students were invited to donate items to be included in the basket. Several local businesses, such as Xtreme Air and Ahlquist Eye Care, also donated items to be included in the auction.
“Our Hilltop parents were so great with their basket donations. We really appreciate their support. Deanna and Kelly did a great job putting the baskets together,” Harris said.
Attendees gathered at the end of the evening to find out if they were a lucky winner of one of the Chinese auction baskets.