Cerritos got ready to hoe down for the 28th annual Hoe Down Days celebration. Twenty carnival booths were out for the first day event on Tuesday in Falcon Square.

The events will continue until Thursday.

More than 2,000 students were treated to have fun with a water dunk tank, rock climbing and hoop basketball.

Among those who were participating in the water dunk tank booth was peer counseling supervisor Francesca Bello.

“It’s fun and this is my second time doing this event.”

She added that her reason for participating was to help the school raise money for ASCC scholarships and that it felt good doing it.

Bello lost count as to how many times she had been dropped into the dunk tank and said that the water was cold but got used to it.

Vice President of Student Services Stephen Johnson also said that he’d lost count as to how many times he’d been dropped in as well.

But to have a good turnout for the carnival, he said that it’s terrific and tons of fun.

In addition, he said that to have an event like Hoe Down Days is great because the money being raised would go toward scholarships. One of the 20 booths that were participating in the carnival was the Psychology Club’s duck race. The object of the game was to squirt water toward a rubber duck to the finish line.

As Psychology Club president Jaime Sandoval was encouraging students to take part in the game, he said that it was great to have these events.

“An event such as Hoe Down Days brings out the competitive side of the students.”

He noted that there was something different this semester as opposed to last semester. “The Psychology Club is trying to encourage student involvement within the campus.”

From the looks of the turnout on Tuesday, Sandoval felt it was encouraging to see students looking to be involved in any way possible.

Another booth that was looking to challenge the students was the Accounting Club’s booth that tested the knowledge of students to find out whether he or she was smarter than a fifth grader.

The sample questions that were asked were “How many stars are on the American Flag?”

Sarah Ko, undecided major, answered eight questions correctly and following the quiz as to see how smart she was, said that it was difficult at first.

“I had to think backward for a minute, but after that it was easy.” The prize that she won was a stuffed animal and commented that she was happy that she won.

Ko, who has been attending Cerritos for two semesters, said it was the first time that she attended any of the Hoe Down Days.

For John Conley, astronomy major, however, it was the questions that asked from a fifth grader’s point of view that caught him off guard because it made him think.

WPMD hoped to make a winner out of Lily Rodriguez, communications major, with its booth. Students had the opportunity to throw beanbags toward three bottles and knock them down and clear the area where it was standing.

Rodriguez didn’t walk away a winner but said that seeing an event such as Hoe Down Days on campus was great.

“This is great because it gives students an opportunity to relax and have fun before going to his or her next class.”