CARLSBAD -- As movie stars walked the red carpet in Hollywood on Sunday afternoon, film fans got to walk their own strip of red into a south Carlsbad movie theater to watch the Academy Awards as part of a fundraiser for local schools.

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"This is a real classy way they presented it," said Debra Oliver, as she watched the preshow at the theater with her daughter. "They try to create an air of the awards show here, so you feel that you're at an event."

Sunday's event was the second year that the nonprofit Carlsbad Educational Foundation has held the fundraiser at the La Costa UltraStar Cinemas theater, though the theater has broadcast the Oscars for the public since it opened five years ago.

Oliver said she enjoys spending the evening with other people as she watches the annual film awards show.

""It's fun," she said. "It's like a party."

Steve VanDuyn, who arrived early to get a good seat, said he enjoys hearing the audience's reaction to the awards, although the biggest thrill is simply watching the show on the large screen.

During commercials, the foundation awarded raffle prizes and encouraged discussion about the stars and the awards -- and, of course, the outfits.

The event was free to the public, but the education foundation was hoping to raise money by selling dinner and raffle tickets for $20. That money will go into classrooms in Carlsbad to enhance science, technology, art and literacy programs, said Diana Aaron, executive director of the foundation.

"We are putting money directly into the classrooms so that teachers have the tools they need," she said.

For the last two years UltraStar has opened up one of its six theaters for the public to see the Oscars. However, Aaron said she hopes the fundraiser grows to the point where the foundation will be able to use more than one screen in the future.

In addition to raising money for the organization, the Academy Awards event was designed to raise awareness of its annual telethon fundraiser, which is expected to bring in as much as $400,000, Aaron said. The show will be broadcast from 6 to 9 p.m. March 22 on Time Warner Cable.

The Carlsbad Educational Foundation has been around since 1983 and raises money throughout the year for teachers in the Carlsbad Unified School District with fundraisers such as the Taste of Carlsbad and an annual golf tournament.

Theater officials were excited to have the education foundation return for the fundraiser this year and hope to continue it as an annual event, said Julie Bravo, vice president of advertising and marketing for the Vista-based theater chain, which owns theaters in San Diego, Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

"Everyone had such a great time, we decided to have them sponsor the event again this year," she said. "We just love to do things that give back to the community, especially schools."

- Contact staff writer Stacy Brandt at (760) 631-6622 or sbrandt@nctimes.com.