The top three winning groups in this year's Scarecrow Contest at Newtown Middle School have been announced. The scarecrows were on display and open for voting at the school Saturday, November 5, and Sunday, November 6.

NMS art teachers Leigh Anne Coles and Kristen Ladue oversaw the contest this year.

The annual program is a fundraiser that challenges participating eighth grade student groups to design and construct scarecrows. Once the creations are on display on the school's front lawn the public is invited to vote on their favorite with corresponding $1 donations for each vote. The money raised is split between the top three winning groups to donate to charities of their choosing.

As announced by Ms Coles on Tuesday, November 8, this year's first place scarecrow was "Hakuna Matata - Lion King" created by Elise Beier, Riley Burns, Sarah Nowacki, and Kate Petersen; the second place scarecrow was "Buckbeak" created by Nancy Chung, Mackenzie Hughes, and Ava Schwartz; and the third place scarecrow was "Five Nights of Freddy" created by Hannah Ruhs, Madison Hitchcock, Michaela Intemann, Sofia Gusto-Sandy, and Melissa Travali.

This year's Scarecrow Contest was originally set to be on display for October 22 and 23, but was postponed due to predicted weather reports.

This year's contest raised $1,458 for the three winning groups to split and donate to charities, which were yet to be determined on Tuesday, November 8. Last year's Scarecrow Contest raised $1,102 for local charities.

"We are so very proud of all of our students, the 29 groups, who participated to help raise these funds; without their participation, we would not have the event," Ms Coles said.