Here’s the idea.

When we begin our program, we introduce that day’s Showdown and choose two students that want to battle it out (usually a guy and a girl). We give them each a pumpkin (already hollowed out and seeded) and 15 minutes to prepare.

After 15 minutes, we called them back and watched them carve their pumpkins live in front of our group. We chose the winners by letting the crowd cheer for their favorite.

And of course we needed a cool prize, so Elle carved a pumpkin with our logo in it.

If you’re looking to do your own On-the-Spot Pumpkin-Carving Showdown, here’s what you’ll need for each battle…

This past Sunday morning will forever be remembered as “Laser Pointer Day” in our middle school environment.

That’s because every student that walked through our doors was handed a laser pointer.

Why would we give hundreds of middle school students laser pointers you might ask? Well, because it was fun!