{"id":10954,"date":"2026-09-23T07:03:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T11:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hra.org\/?p=10954"},"modified":"2026-09-23T09:10:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T13:10:56","slug":"fall-festival-to-mark-43rd-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hra.org\/fall-festival-to-mark-43rd-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"A Celebration of Community, Togetherness, and Autumn Fun: HRA Fall Festival to Mark 43rd Anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Parent

For over four decades, devoted parent volunteers have made Fall Festival one of the HRA community\u2019s most cherished traditions<\/p><\/div>\n

This autumn, Hampton Roads Academy will continue one of its most beloved campus traditions as the Navigator community celebrates the 43rd anniversary of Fall Festival.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scheduled for Friday, October 16, from 2:00 to 5:30 pm, the much-anticipated event will bring students and faculty from all three divisions together with parents, <\/span>alumni<\/span><\/a>, extended families, and friends for an afternoon of carnival games, exciting contests, delicious treats, and fall fun for all ages.<\/span><\/p>\n

Highlights will include a petting zoo, a haunted house, a rock climbing wall, a crazy train ride, a cake walk, raffles for gift baskets generously donated by Navigator parents, a pickleball tournament held on the HRA tennis courts, and so much more\u2014all executed on an unprecedented scale.<\/span><\/p>\n

The festivities would not be possible without a dedicated and growing team of parent volunteers focused on creating an unforgettable experience for every student and a sense of belonging for every family. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"An

New heights of excitement for all ages: Fall Festival features a wealth of unforgettable activities every year<\/p><\/div>\n

Leading the Fall Festival Planning Committee is a trio of HRA moms who serve on the Academy\u2019s <\/span>Parents Council<\/span><\/a>. Eleventh-grade representative Julie Patterson and tenth-grade representative Sonja Seutter are Fall Festival veterans, having volunteered and taken on greater leadership roles since their children joined HRA eight and ten years ago, respectively. They are joined by Parents Council Pre-Kindergarten and <\/span>Lower School<\/span><\/a> division representative Gema McGuiness, who is new to HRA and views her first Fall Festival as an opportunity for her family and others to connect with fellow members of the Navigator community and meaningfully contribute to the life of the school.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI raised my hand because I did not want to spend the year on the sidelines hoping the community would find us,\u201d McGuiness said. \u201cI wanted our family to be part of building the welcome, not just receiving it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

HRA invites every Navigator family to <\/span>join our parent volunteers<\/span><\/a> in building the welcome at this year\u2019s Fall Festival. \u201cIt\u2019s simply the best,\u201d Seutter said\u2014\u201cthe excitement, the divisions coming together, seeing new and old faces in the community, and creating a lifetime of memories for HRA students.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A Storied Tradition<\/h3>\n
\"Smiling

Student volunteers serve up cotton candy at the first Fall Festival in 1983<\/p><\/div>\n

The Fall Festival that the HRA community knows and loves today is the product of a transformation that has spanned more than half a century.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1969, when the Academy still served only students in Grades 7 through 12, a devoted group of parents formed the Parents and Friends Committee, a body dedicated to bringing Navigator families together and raising funds to elevate the HRA experience. An annual Spring Festival soon became one of the committee\u2019s signature events.<\/span><\/p>\n

By 1980, the organization grew into the Parents\u2019 Association, which made the decision to move the yearly festival from spring to autumn in 1983. The inaugural Fall Festival set an ambitious goal: to raise $25,000 for a computer lab at HRA. The event was a resounding success, helping the Academy fully equip the lab the following December, and it would not have been possible without the 144 parents\u2014a group more than a third the size of the entire student body at the time\u2014who stepped up to do their part.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every fall since then, the remarkable efforts of parent volunteers eager to support HRA have carried on a cherished tradition, strengthened the school community, and helped unlock opportunities for generations of students.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"HRA

Sweet treats never go out of style: Upper School volunteers scoop snow cones for their fellow Navigators at last year\u2019<\/span>s Fall Fest<\/p><\/div>\n

The newly formed HRA Parents Council, an evolution of the former Parents\u2019 Association, will continue this legacy as it hosts its first Fall Festival this October. With a parent representative for each grade level, from Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12, the Parents Council works in close collaboration with school leaders to align their volunteer efforts with the needs and objectives of the Academy and provide a touchpoint for all Navigator families to support the school and come together for special events throughout the year. Whatever an HRA parent\u2019s background or schedule may be, the Parents Council provides opportunities to connect with a community of adults who share a commitment to providing an exceptional education for their children.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Patterson, the Parents Council\u2019s leadership of the Fall Festival Planning Committee \u201chas increased how many parents contribute to the event\u2019s success, giving more parents a sense of accomplishment and pride in Fall Fest and the fun students have at it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

McGuiness agreed, suggesting that the planning process marked a promising start for the Parents Council\u2019s role in family engagement throughout the school year, fostering \u201ca culture that welcomes parents as partners.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExpanding the Footprint\u201d<\/h3>\n
\"Lower

Always a hit at Fall Fest, the petting zoo will be expanded this year<\/p><\/div>\n

As the tradition of Fall Festival enters a new chapter, it will evolve in two principal ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

First, in a departure from prior years, when the event <\/span>fell on the same date<\/span><\/a> as the <\/span>Homecoming<\/span><\/a> game, this year\u2019s Fall Festival will be held the previous Friday. This change will extend an annual autumn celebration of the Navigator community into an even more expansive season of festivities, with the fun beginning at Fall Festival, continuing through Spirit Week, reaching new heights as <\/span>alumni join current families<\/span><\/a> on campus for Homecoming on October 23 and 24, and culminating with parents, grandparents, graduates, faculty, staff, and friends of the Academy gathering to support <\/span>Navigator Athletics<\/span><\/a> at the <\/span>34th Annual HRA Golf Classic<\/span><\/a> on October 29.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new date will also facilitate a second change. No longer sharing the campus with Homecoming events on a single afternoon, Seutter explained that she and her fellow volunteers will have more space available for \u201cexpanding the footprint\u201d of Fall Festival.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Middle

A good sport: Middle and Upper School choir director Marshall Severin takes a plunge in the dunk tank during Fall Fest 2025<\/p><\/div>\n

As a result, the Planning Committee has laid out a more ambitious vision for this year\u2019s event. The festival will feature a larger haunted house, more food choices, a wider array of activities tailored to the interests of older students, and an expanded petting zoo, featuring not only the familiar sheep, goats, llamas, and pigs, but also snakes, bunnies, chickens, and more. In partnership with <\/span>Amazing Entertainment<\/span><\/a>, the committee will also introduce new bounce houses, rides, and interactive entertainment options.<\/span><\/p>\n

For her part, Patterson cannot wait to see the students\u2019 \u201cexcitement when they race out of school at the start of the event.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"An

Upper Schoolers run a face-painting station for their peers<\/p><\/div>\n

Assisting HRA parents as the festival kicks off, all <\/span>Upper School<\/span><\/a> students will volunteer\u2014either individually or as members of clubs that will be fundraising at the event\u2014painting the faces of their fellow Navigators, facilitating crafts and carnival games, and serving up snow cones, popcorn, cotton candy, and other craveable snacks. <\/span>Middle Schoolers<\/span><\/a> will have the opportunity to help out as well, both on their own and as members of participating clubs.<\/span><\/p>\n

With so many fun ways for students and parents across all three divisions to get involved and connect with fellow Navigators, this year\u2019s Fall Festival will be a celebration no member of the HRA community will want to miss.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want people to arrive, run into someone they know, meet someone they don\u2019t, and leave later than they planned,\u201d McGuiness said. \u201cI am looking forward to faces becoming names, to seeing students from every division in one place, and to helping host the kind of event that makes a new family say, \u2018This is home.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There are still plenty of opportunities to volunteer for Fall Festival. <\/span><\/i>Sign up<\/span><\/i><\/a> to help carry on this wonderful HRA tradition!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"A

Bubbling with excitement: Fall Festival is where memories are made and lasting connections are built<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This autumn, Hampton Roads Academy will continue one of its most beloved campus traditions as the Navigator community celebrates the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":10965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,49,50,133,136],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-school-news","category-featured","category-home","category-programs-facilities","category-service"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10954"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10981,"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10954\/revisions\/10981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hra.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}