POULSBO — Parents and community members can help Breidablik Elementary — and have fun at the same time — by attending the Byte auction and carnival on Saturday.

For 25 cents, kids can take part in a gym full of carnival games, including cakewalks, competitions and a performance by the Breidablik BRATs, a talented bunch of students who balance, juggle, unicycle and bounce their way around.

At the same time, parents can bid on theater tickets, beauty services, car-repair coupons, gift baskets, or any number of items during three silent auctions. Proceeds will go to help the school.

Parent-Teacher Association president Dianna Palermo said the event is crucial to Breidablik, especially to the school library, which uses the funds buy new books.

“It pays for a huge amount of books that kids like to read,” said Palermo, who is co-coordinating the event with Joan Kidder. Dawn Halferty is coordinating the carnival.

The Byte auction began five years ago as a quest to get a computer into every new classroom. The first auction was such a success that it bought more than new computers — it paid for printers, too. The following year, the auction paid for computer upgrades, but the year after that it expanded, with funds being split between the PTA and the library, Palermo said.

Since then, the money raised at the popular event has paid for books, software, and student scholarships, among other items.

This year’s auction has another purpose.

Organizers will try to raise $2,000 to start work on an outdoor classroom that would overlook nearby Jump-Off Joe Creek.

The classroom would include a platform above the waterway, Palermo said, so students could look down on the creek without damaging the environment. The structure could help students’ yearly efforts to raise salmon, then release them, she added.

So far, the PTA has about $2,000 saved for the project and needs another $2,000 to complete it.

Palermo said the event will be held at the school this year, as opposed to the Sons of Norway Hall where it was held in the first few years, to cut down on overhead costs

Last year’s auction raised about $5,000.

Palermo said she hopes that plenty of people of all ages attend.

“We’re trying to make it a community event,” she said.