This year’s Newtown Middle School Eighth Grade Scarecrow Contest creations ranged from spooky to sweet, and people walked among them on both Saturday and Sunday, October 19 and 20, to view and then vote for their favorite. The top three winning scarecrows were announced by the school on October 21.

NMS’s annual Eighth Grade Scarecrow Contest raises donations for local charities by having members of the public pay $1 per vote. Art teacher Leigh Anne Coles, long-term substitute Roxanne Buzinsky, and art teacher Kristen Ladue are overseeing the effort this year.

For the contest, eighth grade students are tasked to work in groups to create a larger-than-life scarecrow that can withstand Mother Nature. Students can work alone, but they are encouraged to work in groups. Members of the public are asked to vote for their favorite scarecrow, as many times as they want, with a corresponding $1 donation per vote.

Last school year, the effort raised more than $1,500 for local charities. This year surpassed that amount by earning $2,857. The top winning teams will divide the earnings and choose charities to donate to in the coming weeks.

All of the groups participating this year were encouraged to limit spending to $30 per scarecrow. Eighth grade Art Enrichment students had to participate in the project, and other students could volunteer. Students earned community service hours for collecting ballots on October 19 and 20.

The top three winning scarecrows were No. 14 Electric Guitar by Howard Schuster, Evan Chaudhary, and Zosia Teraszkiewicz in first place; No. 27 Minecraft Chicken by Grant Ricks and Johnny Kwap in second place; and No. 5 Seeds of Hope by Paige Tarpey, Lauren Milgram, Maddie Roe, and Emma Formica in third place.

A number of scarecrows were created with messages in mind, like a few that spread the message about pollution in the ocean. Minecraft was a popular inspiration choice with other scarecrows based on the popular game. Sweet treats were another form of inspiration, with an ice cream sundae, a packet of Life Savers, and Oreo cookies and milk all created as scarecrows this year. Under a tree on the school’s property, a pumpkin-headed scarecrow rode a large spider while a demogorgon from the Netflix show Stranger Things appeared to be popping out of the ground nearby.

Many of the scarecrows were very detailed. A tower inspired by Disney’s Tangled had an interior room, the Oreo cookies and milk included a framed informational display, a tall piñata scarecrow was created from cut and painted cups, the Electric Guitar scarecrow was covered in sheet music, and the Seeds of Hope scarecrow, which had large flowers growing out of a bucket, included more “seeds” that community members could write kind words on to put in a “hope jar.”

As people mingled between the scarecrows, the towering Minecraft Chicken appeared ready to peck and squawk.