Area haunted house scares up funds for students

WEBSTER COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Over the past year, students at East Webster Elementary have gotten thousands of dollars worth of supplies and electronics for their school.

However, how they got the money for the new stuff is a little unique.

It’s called “Three Stories of Terror” — a haunted house put together by the East Webster Elementary PTO.

The old Wood Junior College administration building is currently closed.

It’s been years since students have walked the campus grounds– making the old building the perfect location for a haunted house.

“I thought it was going to be a huge undertaking. It was going to take a lot of time and a lot of effort, but I’m so glad we did it. It worked out so well for our school. We were able to purchase so many things for our kids, and it was well worth the time and the effort,” said parent and volunteer Amanda White.

White is the parent of two East Webster Elementary students.

She said the haunted house brought in thousands of dollars when it opened last year.

“We were able to purchase some Chrome books for our school. We purchased some smart boards. I think they got new chairs for our computer lab. They were able to provide lunches for our teachers on special days and all kinds of awesome things to benefit our kids,” said White.

Putting together a three-story maze of terror isn’t easy.

“To begin with, it’s mainly the PTO… just getting in the design and what we want to do for each room. As we get that done, we get a lot of parents, a lot of teachers. Students help scare, but to begin with we try to just have the adults just so that we know what’s going on and we can get their input and what they would do if they were in the situation or whatever,” said PTO treasurer Heather McLain.

The haunted house was so popular during its first year, it was the only fundraiser the school needed.

“Last year, we made around ten thousand dollars, and our time frame was shorter then. We only could use the building three nights and the bulk of that was brought in the first two nights. We added another night just because we had so many people,” said PTO vice president Suzanna Johnson.

With over 70 volunteers each night and countless donations, the attraction is a community-wide effort.

“We wouldn’t have been able to do it without the local businesses. We started out with nothing. I mean you go in here and it’s a blank canvas. There is nothing, tables, chairs, nothing in here,” said McLain.

“I’m just so glad the community has jumped in and helped us. We just wouldn’t be the school we are without our PTO and our community,” said White.

“We can do anything. We can scare or no-scare. A lot of kids just like to come through. They just want to look at everything. We enjoy it, the kids love it. We just want to give them something to do,” said Johnson.

For more information on the hours of operation click here.