THE SOUND of rattling money tins can be heard across the Jerrabomberra Public School playground.
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It's lunch time, the prime time to squeeze a few dollars out of the students but all in the name of charity of course.
Four staff members have been pitted against each other to try and raise the most amount of money for the school.
The person with the smallest bounty gets the dubious honour of getting up close and personal with a snake.
It's part of the school's "The Surgery @ Jerra Snuggle the Snake" competition and a star attraction at the School Fete.
Event coordinator Katrina Chisholm said the competition was a great way to promote the event and all proceeds will go to the school's numeracy and literacy programs.
"The snake is a python, it's 2.5 metres long and weighs six kilograms," Mrs Chisholm said. "In the past we've had 'kiss the pig' and 'kiss the croc'.
"The staff members are school principal Chris Hunter, kindergarten teacher Lyn Parker, year six teacher Richard Hancock and school janitor Joe Gil.
All said they're not particularly fond of cuddling up to the snake but there's an extra incentive for Mr Hancock who had the unfortunate task of kissing the croc two years ago.
"It was intimidating; I think what made it worse was all the people. There were lots of people in the audience. My son was two at the time … he always tells people 'Dad kissed a croc!'," he said.
"It was scary but fun at the same time … but that's not to say I want to do it again."
Mr Hancock said his game plan is to encourage his kids to collect money at lunchtime.It's quite a similar tactic to Mrs Hunter except she said she'll be doing all the collecting herself.
Attached to her tin is a sign "Please don't let me snuggle the snake!".
"I'm replying on my reputation to fill up my tin,'' she said.
"I have a tin at the front counter to catch everyone who drops in and I'll also be bringing it out with me to the school crossing in the afternoons."
First time competitor Mrs Parker has put a lot of thought into her campaign and will organise a "how many snakes in the jar?" guessing game and a snakes and ladders tournament.
"You pay to play!" she adds, not wanting to miss out on an opportunity to fill her creative collection tub.
"My daughter helped to create my tin, it's a snake wrapped around a stump. My aim is to fill the tubs and I've got my kindergarten kids volunteering to help collect money around the school.
"I've actually got two buckets on the go, I've got to make sure to get everyone's change before Mr Gil's tin goes around."
This is Mr Gil's third year in the competition and the popular janitor is offering students a special service.
"I'm charging students to get their stuff off the roof everything like a ball, shoes, wallets, jumpers," he said.
"They just have to make a donation whether it be 5 cents or $1."
The losing staff member won't be the only star attraction at the Fete, the Canberra Raiders's Terry Campese will also make an appearance in the Dunk Machine.
The School Fete is a community event and will include a mini ferris wheel, photo competition, jumping castle, fairy floss, second hand books, haunted house, devonshire tea, cake stalls, craft stalls, plants stalls and raffles.
Community groups including the Jerrabomberra Residents Association and Jerrabomberra Rotary will also be present.The Jerrabomberra Public School Fete will be held on Saturday, October 27 from 2-7pm at the school.
