UPDATE (Thursday, October 20, 2016):  Due to concerns about inclement weather the weekend of October 22-23, Newtown Middle School art teacher Leigh Anne Coles has notified The Newtown Bee that the Scarecrow Contest scheduled for the weekend has been postponed to Saturday and Sunday, November 5-6. Voting will take place on those days between 9 am and 5 pm, and results will be in the November 11 edition of The Newtown Bee.

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Newtown Middle School eighth grade students have been busy since early September crafting and creating this year's entries into the annual Scarecrow Contest, an annual fundraiser for local charities of the top three winning groups' choosing.

The scarecrows will be on display on the school's front lawn, 11 Queen Street, Saturday, October 22 and Sunday, October 23, from 9 am until 5 pm, and voting will be open. Volunteers will be available to collect votes on both days.

Students can begin putting the scarecrows on display the day before, Friday, October 21, after school is released. Students and community members are then invited cast their votes for their favorites with corresponding $1 donations, Saturday and Sunday.

Ballots for the contest will be available at NMS the weekend the scarecrows are up, and will also be printed in the October 21, 2016 edition of

The Newtown Bee. Ballots can be dropped off with the $1 donation for each vote either at NMS that weekend or in the letter slot on the front door at The Bee's office, at 5 Church Hill Road, in an envelope marked "NMS Scarecrows," by the end of Sunday, October 23.

Each year NMS eighth grade students are challenged to design and create a larger-than-life scarecrow that can withstand the elements while on display on the front lawn of NMS. Groups are limited to spending $25 on the creations.

The top three winners divide the donations between charities of their choosing.

NMS art teachers Leigh Anne Coles and Kristen Ladue are overseeing the contest this year, with assistance from NMS parent Wendy Eurell, who is the mother of Grace Eurell, a participant in the contest.

As of October 5, Ms Coles said, "a lot of student groups are still in progress."

Ms Coles said students are mostly working on the projects at home, but each group shared the concept for their designs near the start of the project. Many have been sharing updates as the work progresses.

One group, she said, has been working on a "bio-electric manipulation" idea, which will explore in scarecrow form how the human brain perceives information, facial expressions specifically.

Other groups are finding inspiration from Disney and Pixar movies, and, Ms Coles said, one group is creating its own version of recently retired NMS technology education teacher Don Ramsey's "Moxie Mobile," an infamous orange Jeep. Another group is working on a "Be Kind" Ben's Bells necklace.

"I think they are really excited," said Ms Coles.

Ms Coles and Ms Ladue previewed the annual scarecrow contest with seventh grade Art Enrichment students last school year, to help inspire them for this year's contest. Many were so excited, planning began before the initial meeting in early September.

Participating students earn community service hours for completing scarecrow projects and for helping to oversee the ballot collection.

Last year's first place entry was "Snoopy Halloween with the Dog House" by students Rick Irving, Jack Wojtowicz, and Colin Zhang; the second place winner was "Wall-E" by Eugene Hong, Sullivan Koekkoek, and Constantine Kyprianou; and the third place winner was "Cinderella's Carriage" by Abby Kelly, Margaret O'Sullivan, Jackie Tibolla, and Alyssa Zajac. Last year's contest raised $1,102.

The scarecrows will begin to come down on Monday, October 24. More than 100 students are involved in making the scarecrows this year, and roughly 30 scarecrows are expected to be entered into this year's fundraising contest.

Results from the ballot collection will be announced the week of October 24 at NMS, and will be presented in the October 28, 2016 print edition of

The Newtown Bee.

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