SCRANTON – A Scranton School District security officer’s Halloween activities ensured families at West Scranton Intermediate School got a Thanksgiving meal.
Parris Price organized a haunted house and Halloween party late last month for students and their families.
Students could sign up to help in the haunted house, which consisted of costumed volunteers that interacted with visitors. The party included candy, a costume contest and T-shirts, which students could purchase. The festivities drew in a little more than 500 people over the course of its two nights.
Price came up with the idea for the haunted house while organizing the party and upon seeing the locker room in the school’s basement, which he felt was an appropriate setting.
“I thought it would be a great place to do it,” Price, who has patrolled the halls at West Scranton Intermediate School for two years, said. “It had that atmosphere.”
Proceeds went towards purchasing food that Price and school staff prepared for and served to 100 school families the weekend before Thanksgiving.
While this is the first time he’s served meals to families, it’s not his first time organizing free activities for students. Since he began, he has hosted dances for students that include free food. He has also helped organize afterschool activities and the school’s first step club, which will start up in December.
Principal Angela Keating said the activities are designed to be free for the students.
“Our demographics have changed a lot and sometimes $3 for a dance entrance fee is a lot for them,” she said.
School security officer Parris Price discusses his experience in West Scranton Intermediate School in Scranton Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Price’s inspiration for organizing activities for students comes from his childhood in South Bronx, N.Y., where he went to similar activities at his school. He thought it was a good idea to bring them to today’s kids as it not only makes them happy but gives them something safe to do.
“It keeps them busy so they stay off the streets,” he said.
Keating isn’t surprised with Price’s work as he and his colleagues go above and beyond for the school’s 770 students. She said many of Price’s ideas, like the haunted house, start off small and turn into big events for the students. He has also made any idea a student has come to fruition.
“We always find a way for it to work together,” Keating said. “I love to be able to watch the kids having somebody else to go to throughout the day that they’re comfortable with. To have someone that cares about the kids, I’m for it.”
Price, who now lives in Mount Pocono, said students love the activities and are excited to be involved in them, with older students helping younger ones. He said it teaches them skills for interacting with the public. He is grateful to have the support of the school’s administrators and staff in carrying out his activities.
Price started organizing activities after the school was the target of multiple threats in the spring of 2022 and as students began returning to the classroom after learning remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. His work has impacted the climate at the school in the two years he has organized the activities, with instances of violence and disrespect going down, Keating said.
“They want to be able to be involved in (activities) so they know that if they are getting in trouble, they can’t they can’t take part in them,” she said. “They want to volunteer.”
Keating said she and Price hope the program will branch out to other schools in the district and have discussed it with Superintendent Erin Keating, Ed.D.
Price hasn’t run out of ideas to help students as he hopes to put on a telethon, livestreamed on Facebook, in the spring to raise money for afterschool programs.