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By Camryn Morales
At the Brooks Elementary School’s 11th Annual Fall Fest fundraiser earlier this month, elementary school students circled a row of small pumpkins in a fall-themed version of musical chairs, while other students lined up for carnival games and rides. The sounds of children laughing and Chappell Roan singing “Hot to Go!” filled the crisp autumn air as families formed long lines to ride the carousel, play cornhole, or buy pizza.
Organized by the Brooks School Parent Teacher Organization, the annual event supports a range of programs and resources for the school’s students and teachers.
“It’s one of our favorite traditions, and the kids look forward to it. Middle schoolers come back to volunteer, and that shows how much it means to the students,” said Maggi Pattillo, a PTO organizer and co-coordinator.
Pattillo said the festival was canceled during COVID-19 but came back in full force, including drawing visitors from other schools. It’s a show of how much this festival means to the Medford community, she said.
The event also included a silent auction featuring items such as tickets to Boston Celtics games, private lessons from Medford Music Studio, and a ride to school in a Medford Police Department car. Funds from the auction support field trips, classroom enrichment activities, and other school events for the 560 students who attend Brooks. The money also supports teacher appreciation events and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, including a school-wide mural planned for this year.
While the PTO organized the event, many parents not associated with the PTO showed up as volunteers. Melissa Misicka, a mother of a second-grader and fourth-grader at Brooks School, was one such parent. She decided to volunteer this year after attending the festival with her family for the past five years.
“I've just appreciated all the effort that gets put into this day,” Misicka said. “And this year I had the time to join in, and I was like, ‘Alright, let me get on this and make sure we are making a good time for everybody in the community.'”
She was especially enthusiastic given the programs that are supported by funds from the event. Bionic Project, for example, uses interactive activities led by adaptive athletes and their educators to teach students about disability. The project is, Misicka said, “helping the kids understand more what having a disability is like and the way we need to think about ramps and things like that. Kids aren't necessarily always encountering that first-person perspective on those things, so that's meaningful.”
For others, the festival gave parents and students an opportunity to connect outside the classroom.
“I always love this event,” said Mindy O’Brien, a parent at Brooks School who has been coming with her fifth-grader, James, since he was in kindergarten.
Although the family comes with friends, the festival has also offered them the chance to interact more with those they only know in passing.
“So I feel like we have really built relationships at the Fall Fest,” O’Brien said.
This story is part of a partnership between Gotta Know Medford and the Boston University Department of Journalism’s Newsroom Program.
