It was not all goblins, ghosts and ghouls this Halloween for many students in the Santa Maria Valley.

Several local schools held alternative celebrations, using the day as a forum for more educational “treats.”

“Not everyone believes in Halloween,” said Maggie White, Santa Maria-Bonita School District spokeswoman.

With growing diversity among their students, schools find themselves trying to balance the children's various cultural and belief systems, White said.

Halloween has long been out of favor with various religious denominations, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, who do not celebrate any holidays.

And with kids in costumes hyped up on sugar, “it's very distracting,” she added.

Thus, schools such as Battles Elementary have turned to other ways to mark the holiday.

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Instead of candy and tales of skeleton hands pushing up from their graves, one first-grade class at the school learned about healthy eating and how the right foods could make strong bones.

Representatives from French Hospital in San Luis Obispo brought a skeleton and x-rays, and had the youngsters do bone- and muscle-strengthening exercises, such as tug-of-war.

At Valley Christian School, historical figures “rose from the dead” when students dressed up as their favorite people from history and gave speeches in character.

Another school marked the holiday by celebrating its fall Book Fair -- students at Mary Buren Elementary School in Guadalupe threw five pies at their principal, Jeffrey Madrigal, in honor of the $5,000 they made at the book fair.

Natalie Ragus can be reached at 347-4580 or nragus@santa

mariatimes.com.

November 1, 2007