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Spooky Duke 2018 Scares Up Fun and Funds for High Country Families

Yosef follows closely behind as participants in Appalachian’s Spooky Duke Race and Costume Contest carry a banner bearing the event’s name. Photo by Marie Freeman.

By Jessica Stump

Monsters, super heroes and skeletons galore tested their endurance and supported the work of Parent Family Support Network-High Country (FSN-HC) Saturday in the 2018 Spooky Duke Race and Costume Contest at Appalachian State University.

A total of 374 racers and 75 volunteers participated in the eighth annual Halloween-themed event, raising awareness and over $11,000 in funds for the work of Appalachian’s Parent to Parent Family Support Network-High Country (FSN-HC), which supports local families who have children with special needs.

An additional $10,000 in matched funds was awarded to Parent to Parent FSN-HC director Kaaren Hayes via a grant from The Health Foundation Inc., bringing the total amount of funds raised through the event to over $21,000.

The event, named in honor of Dr. Charles R. Duke, former dean of Appalachian’s Reich College of Education (RCOE), is a certified 5K and 10K race and features a free costume march and contest in which children, adults and pets share in the fun.

Free child care and children’s activities — including face painting, sidewalk chalk, bubbles and games of cornhole — were offered at the event.

The Parent to Parent FSN-HC program, which is housed in the RCOE, provides free support, caring connections, information and hope to High Country families who have a premature baby; a child with a disability, an emotional or behavioral challenge, a mental illness and/or a chronic health condition; and/or to families who are grieving the death of a child. The program serves Alleghany, Ashe, Mitchell, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey counties.

To see more photos from Spooky Duke 2018, visit https://today.appstate.edu/2018/11/05/spooky-duke

And the race is off! Participants in Appalachian’s 2018 Spooky Duke — which include Hulk Hogan in the lead — begin the 5K and 10K race on Rivers Street. Photo by Marie Freeman.

About Parent to Parent Family Support Network-High Country

Parent to Parent Family Support Network-High Country (FSN-HC) provides free support, caring connections, information and hope to families who have a premature baby, a child with a disability, an emotional or behavioral challenge, a mental illness or a chronic health condition, and to families who are grieving the death of a child. The program serves seven counties in Western North Carolina: Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Mitchell, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey. Parent to Parent FSN-HC provides information and tools to help families see the possibilities for their children and turn that potential into reality. Learn more at https://parent2parent.appstate.edu.

About the Reich College of Education

Appalachian offers one of the largest undergraduate teacher preparation programs in North Carolina, graduating about 500 teachers a year. The Reich College of Education enrolls approximately 2,400 students in its bachelor’s, master’s, education specialist and doctoral degree programs. With so many teacher education graduates working in the state, there is at least one RCOE graduate teaching in every county in North Carolina. Learn more at https://rcoe.appstate.edu.

Three throwback fitness instructors jog down Rivers Street in Appalachian’s 2018 Spooky Duke Race and Costume Contest. Photo by Marie Freeman.

About Appalachian State University

Appalachian State University, in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The transformational Appalachian experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and embrace diversity and difference. As one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, Appalachian enrolls more than 19,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.