NATCHEZ — To help pay for a school trip, Natchez Early College Academy Parents-Teachers-Students Association will host a Fun Day for children featuring rides from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 7.

Admission to the event will be free, but each ride will have different prices. Booths will be available to area vendors to rent by calling PTSA Vice President Sharon Bradford at 601-597-4422.

“It is a time for the community to come together and have fun while supporting Natchez Early College Academy,” she said. “There will be a lot of food and fun, so it’ll be a good day for fellowship.”

Bradford said the Natchez Police Department and Adams County Sheriff’s Office will have officers present.

“It’ll give our students a good chance to interact with law enforcement to become familiar with them,” she said. “So they can get to know them and know they are there to protect and serve.”

Bradford said there would be inflatable slides, a hayride a dunking booth and other rides.

The Fun Day will be at Natchez High School’s practice baseball field.

NECA is also still conducting its shoe drive, with approximately 200 more pairs of gently worn shoes still needed. Donors can drop the shoes off at the NECA office on the Natchez High campus.

NECA is planning an end-of-the-year trip to Washington, D.C., and New York. The educational experience includes historical, scientific, mathematical and literary background aspects.

Some stops on the trip include the Arlington National Cemetery, the Pentagon, Howard University, the National Mall, the Statute of Liberty and the national Sept. 11 Memorial.

At the April 14 board meeting, NECA Principal Kesha Broady-Campbell said approximately 60 students would be attending the trip. Campbell said there would be an adult for every four students.

The group would also visit Six Flags Great Adventures theme park as a social activity, though the teachers made sure to tie in math and science projects.