Christmas music played as Weatherly Area students walked under a silver, white and blue balloon arch adorned with giant, glistening snowflakes and into a Winter Wonderland Thursday.

Members of the district’s Parent Teacher Association spent more than seven hours transforming the middle school gym for its second Jingle Bell Bash for kindergarten to eighth-graders.

The schoolwide holiday bash featured games, glimmering winter backdrops and scenes, inflatable snowmen, penguins, Christmas trees, a photo booth, character visits and a life-size, inflatable snow globe for the kids to play inside.

PTA President Jackie Covey explained the Jingle Bell Bash came about as an alternative to classroom Christmas parties, which fell out of favor in the post-pandemic years.

“Some teachers weren’t comfortable doing classroom parties,” Kristin Aneskevich, PTA vice president, said. “So some classes didn’t get parties. To keep it equal between all the grades, we threw one big party.”

Everyone was on board for the schoolwide bash from the principals on down to the custodians, and it’s an all-hands-on-deck event to make sure that all students have a good time, they said.

The association also gives back to the teachers and staff by hosting a catered luncheon for them, Covey said. The Hut, owned by PTA members, catered the luncheon, and the PTA strives to support local vendors and businesses as much as possible, she said.

“We try to do a lot of things to support our community,” Covey said.

Throughout the day, different grades rotated in and out of the celebration, which had numerous games, crafts and activities that each grade level developed or suggested with the help of the association.

The big draws of the day, at least with the middle schoolers, were the photo booth, giant snow globe and the inflatable ax throwing.

The younger kids also enjoyed a visit from Olaf from the Disney movie, “Frozen.”

The 196-member-strong PTA puts together the Jingle Bell Bash through fundraising and donations. Remaining money goes toward field trips, school supplies for classrooms, recess equipment and more activities for the students and staff, Covey said.