DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Students at Space of Mind in downtown Delray Beach are putting math, engineering, technology and storytelling to work by creating their own Halloween haunted house, called SOMething Scary, to raise money for educational programs and scholarships.
This year's theme puts a decidedly 2026 spin on Halloween: "Error 404: Humanity Not Found."
Kimberly Allegro, director of business development at Space of Mind, said students are incorporating robotics, electronics, audio and video into an experience built around artificial intelligence.
"The haunted house this year is themed error 404. Humanity not found," Allegro said during an interview with WPTV. "So the students are actually working on a bunch of themes in the haunted house that have to do with AI and the takeover that's impending on us in the future."
Students engineer their own scares
The haunted house isn't simply a collection of Halloween decorations.
Digital media coach Todd Belanca said students have incorporated core academic skills into the attraction, including mathematics and engineering, along with sound design, music and storytelling.
"We've been impressed, absolutely impressed with what they've done," Belanca said. "The amount of time, energy, the creativity, utilizing everything from core skills, mathematics to engineering, their sound design and music is incredible."
Belanca said storytelling is an important part of the students' work.
"So the whole idea of this is to build a story, not just have scares, build a storyline," he said.
That gives students an opportunity to take lessons beyond a traditional classroom setting and turn them into something thousands of drivers and pedestrians passing through downtown Delray Beach can immediately recognize: a Halloween attraction.
Student Dieter said the young creators have put significant work into the project.
"All the students did lots of hard work to put together a haunted house," he said.
A haunted house with a larger purpose
Behind the scares is a fundraising mission.
Space of Mind works with Community Classroom Project, a nonprofit organization that supports educational opportunities in the community.
Allegro described Space of Mind as a homeschool schoolhouse community serving students from kindergarten through 12th grade. She said Community Classroom Project supports student and culinary scholarships.
"We are also putting on this haunted house in support of building and fundraising those scholarships throughout the year," Allegro said.
Jack Feldman, marketing manager at Space of Mind, said Community Classroom Project has a mission of reducing school-related stress and that its initiatives include scholarships and workplace readiness training.
"It funds scholarships and also workplace readiness training as well," Feldman said.
According to Feldman, building SOMething Scary also gives Space of Mind students an opportunity to pursue their individual interests and passions.
Halloween arrives in downtown Delray Beach
SOMething Scary is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 30, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The haunted house will be at Space of Mind, 102 N. Swinton Ave., near Old School Square in downtown Delray Beach.
The festivities will extend beyond the haunted house ($10) with a free block party and other activities.
For students, the event offers something that can be difficult to duplicate with a worksheet or textbook: the chance to combine different skills to create something tangible for their community.
For visitors, it means getting a Halloween scare. For Community Classroom Project, those scares can translate into support for educational programs and scholarships.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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