Written by Joyce Cattelane

What kids don’t like carnivals? It’s a chance for them to run and jump and play and have wholesome fun and expend some energy. The students at the Imagine School will have time to do just that from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Saturday, April 28 when they enjoy their Second Annual School Carnival at the Imagine Middle School’s sports field at Panacea Boulevard. Plus, they’ll be able to slime their teachers!

The Great Slime Machine will be there, plus the Beach Screamer, a 34-foot slip and slide, gladiator joust, hose hockey, obstacle course, Happy Caterpillar bounce house and slide, chip shot golf, demolition ball, basketball hoop shot, Wild West Nerf shooting game, rock climbing wall and Velcro wall. There will also be North Port Police K9, fire department and Bodies in Motion demonstrations, a disc jockey and raffles. Representatives from Nokido-Ju-Jitsu and A Better Place Dance Studio will also demonstrate what they do for everyone’s entertainment. Ninth-grade science teacher Peter Baumgartner will be grilling hamburgers, cheeseburgers and hot dogs. Also available will be popcorn, cotton candy, hot pretzels and other carnival treats. Kinetico Home Water Systems is sponsoring the Beach Screamer water ride and donating all bottled water to the event.

The carnival is open to the public and admission is only $2 per adult and $1 for children, which includes a raffle ticket entry for the grand prize of an Android tablet. Wristbands and individual tickets will be for sale for attractions, games and food. All proceeds directly benefit Imagine School students and offset the cost of school supplies.

While the carnival is on, the Naturally North Port Farmers’ Market will also be taking place. According to Kory Muniz, teacher assistant and vice president of the Imagine School PTO, the farmers’ market “is a great social gathering for the neighborhood while also providing healthy, fresh foods, arts and crafts from all over our community.” The carnival and farmers’ market are both located at the Imagine School middle school campus, located at 2757 Sycamore Street. She added, “Thanks to the community we had a great turn out last year for our inaugural school carnival. Over 2,000 people passed through our gates. They came, they played – they had lots of fun.
We were able to raise enough funds to cover the cost of agendas for the entire Imagine School student body. This year we plan on exceeding our goals that we set last year and have planned bigger and better attractions and events. Thank you to everyone who contributed to our success. Imagine is a great school and I am fortunate to work here, and the PTO is honored to plan these great events for our students.”

For more information, contact Kory Muniz at (941) 426-2050, ext. 209, or email her at kory.muniz@imagineschools.com. To learn more about Imagine School at North Port, visit their website at www.imagineschoolatnorthport.com.