It was an eventful evening for families and students of the Academy of Arts Careers and Technology (AACT) high school on Thursday. AACTÂ hosted their annual Fall Festival to raise funds and donations for charity.
"So this year we have a raffle. So, we got a lot of community partners to help out and donate," said Co-Fall Fest Coordinator Ashlee Romano. "We have Boom Town, Fly High, Defy, some other fun places too. We have a food truck this year, we have games for the kids to play, we have face painting, bag decorating, all those fun stuffs."
For the past few years Fall Fest has been a tradition for students of AACT. They say that this event allows them to raise money for their academy competition, the Family Career Community Leaders of America.
"Last year I got to compete in job interview, and I actually got to make it to the national competition in Denver," said Tegan Richardson, a Co-Fall Fest Coordinator. "So that helps us pay for the state level and the national level."
But this student-run event is more than just a fundraiser for the school. It's also a canned food drive for the Food Bank of Northern Nevada.
"Our partnership with the canned food bank, we are getting canned food for a dollar off your ticket so if you bring canned food, we give you a dollar off your ticket," Richardson explained.
AACT said that they love working with the food bank because it's a win-win for everyone.
"I enjoy it," said Romano. "I really like helping out a lot with anything. I'm always volunteering here at my school to help do stuff because I feel like even though they're helping us, as a thank you we're helping them."
Richardson said that her favorite part of the entire festival are the kids.
"I love seeing little kids because as I've said I'm in teaching in training so I want to be an educator in the future," she said. "So seeing the little kids, seeing how happy they get games and candy, it's one of the best things I could ever experience."
AACT raised $989 and lots of canned food for the food bank.
