Penn-Kidder Campus celebrated Halloween in style on a chilly Friday afternoon with a costume parade in the parking lot, followed by a scarecrow contest.

Kindergarten through sixth grade classes trotted outside in costume, touring around the parking lot with a crowded border of parents and grandparents.Superheroes, video game characters, and yes, even a scary clown, delighted the crowd as Halloween-themed music set the tone for some festive, chilly fun."It was really fun," second grade student Remy Gorski, 7, said."I liked scaring people, that was the most fun thing to do," said fifth-grader Antonio Pescatore, 10, who was dressed as a scary clown.Pescatore was careful not to try to scare any younger schoolmates, though."I didn't want to get an infraction," he said.Once each class had a chance to loop around, a collection of toy-themed teachers surprised the spectators with a flash mob in the middle of the lot, dancing through "Toyland" and into "Uptown Funk.""We picked toys and game pieces, and all the staff that wanted to be involved picked a costume based on that. We picked a song that we wanted to dance with, and we took that song and those teachers choreographed a quick, easy thing, because most of us are not dancers," intervention coordinator Lisa Waren, dressed as Cowgirl Jessie, said.Waren shot video of five teachers performing the dance, emailed the video to the participating staff as a training module for practice, and then everyone got together the day before the parade to practice together.The performance was a hit, with kids and parents applauding the efforts of their favorite teachers."Anything that involves the kids and gets a smile from them is exciting," Title 1 math teacher Nancy Fields, who was dressed up as a Twister game, said.After the parade, a panel of judges including Jim Thorpe School Board of Education member Mike Principe; state Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon; and Kidder Township Police Chief Matt Kuzma judged a set of scarecrows that were assembled by each class year."We're here to support the kids, make sure they have a good time, and see their work. The kids did a great job," Kuzma said as he studied the scarecrows.First grade's "Life's a Beach," fourth grade's "Drugs Drool, Torch Rules," and sixth grade's "Get Hooked on Books, Not Drugs" were the picked as the winners, after a long and difficult judging process."I thought it was a wonderful event," Penn Kidder principal Dave McAndrew said. "We're really a community school, and on days like this you can see how important it is to have the stakeholders, the parents, the grandparents, the aunts and uncles."There's close to 400 people who show up for the parade to see their kids, and that's really a tribute to the school."