Candy, costumes, and contests kick off Halloween on campus
Candy, costumes, and contests made their way to campus on Monday, bringing the Halloween spirit to Redhawks a week early.
To kick off the spooky season, band continued with their annual Halloween tradition, Trunk R Treat. This year, the event saw a change in location from the band parking lot to the gym and surrounding hallway due to the high chance of rain.
“There were going to be people that look at the weather and decide not to come regardless, so for us just moving it inside kind of took some of that equation out,” assistant band director Johnathon Jadvani said. “We made the call earlier in the week when I saw the forecast just to say hey we are still going to have it we are going to move it inside because of rain.”
My favorite part was getting to utilize my creative background,
— English teacher Vanessa Melvin
Although the event’s location changed, many attendees still felt that Trunk R Treat held up its reputation of being one of the year’s highlights.
“It was organized, but like its tighter space except for in the gym,” Trunk R Treater Aiden Schroeder said. “But like when it’s in the hallway it’s really skinny so it’s hard to move around, but it’s still a lot of fun.”
Trunk R Treat is geared towards students, and teachers and staff had the opportunity to show their Halloween spirit earlier on Monday with a chili cook-off and pumpkin decorating contest.
“The theme was Alice in Wonderland. We are an English department, so I figured why not go with a novel, kind of a timeless one that’s also been turned into a movie,” English teacher Vanessa Melvin said. “My favorite part was getting to utilize my creative background. I don’t have a whole lot of time for extra crafts and stuff, but this seemed like a fun way to blow off some steam and bust out those old creative talents that I had once upon a time in college.”
The English department wasn’t the only one that chose to connect their pumpkin to the subject they teach.
My friend came up with the idea of painting patches of other paintings, a ‘franken-pumpkin’ in her words,
— sophomore Hallie Wang
“This year I thought our pumpkin was pretty cute for social studies,” social studies teacher Sarah Wiseman said. “It’s encouraging voting. And then I saw some of the other ones and they’re also pretty awesome.”
The art department also featured the subject they teach, but with a slightly different approach than others.
“The art department actually had three of our AP art students design the pumpkin,” art teacher Fred Rodriguez said. “We did a Monet, Starry Night themed pumpkin, and we wanted to pair the theme with what we do as a fine art department.”
AP Drawing student sophomore Hallie Wang played a role in the making of the art department’s pumpkin, from the idea’s inception to the creation of the final product.
“The paintings we decided to incorporate into the pumpkin were Claude Monet’s Water Lilies, Van Gogh’s Starry Night, and Picasso’s Weeping Woman,” Wang said. “My friend came up with the idea of painting patches of other paintings, a ‘franken-pumpkin’ in her words. I love painting and designing things so this was really fun.”
A young boy makes his shot at Wingspan’s Honey Dunk table which ask people to throw a ping pong ball into a cup on the table. Each person was given three attempts with a piece of candy given for every made shot.
Red Rhythm drill team was host to a variety costumes as they dressed up within their sections. For captain Hannah Beeler (center) and her section, soft drinks were the theme of the night.
With rain forcing Trunk or Treat inside, hundreds of people filled the hallways near the gym and auditorium at Monday’s event. The annual event hosted by band is open to students and staff on campus in addition to the local community.
Spider-Man meets a mermaid (senior Allie Elgin) at Best Buddies Peter Pan themed table at Monday’s Trunk or Treat. In addition to handing out candy, young Trunk or Treaters could also get a picture with the mermaid.
Featuring a theme of a zoo, a small giraffe hangs from a piece of cardboard at UNICEF’s table. Dozens of groups and organizations set up tables in the gym and surrounding halls for Monday’s Trunk or Treat.
Every table featured a different theme for Trunk or Treat. For UNICEF the theme was a zoo.
With tables rather than trunks, student groups were still able to continue the tradition of Trunk R Treat. The large number of groups in attendance gave Trunk-R-Treater’s a wide range of options to choose from.
English teacher Vanessa Melvin was the creative mind behind the English department’s pumpkin. She chose to focus on Alice in Wonderland to bring in the creative aspect, but also tie the theme back to English.
Students are able to vote on their favorite pumpkin, but some were also able to contribute. The art department’s pumpkin featured a variety of well known paintings, and was made by AP art students.
Many departments tied the theme of their pumpkin to the subject they teach. The social studies department’s pumpkin featured a voting theme.
Bringing Halloween to teachers and staff, there was a campus pumpkin decorating contest. Each department got one pumpkin to decorate with a theme of their choosing.
Maya Silberman is a senior going into her third year on the Wingspan staff. Outside of Wingspan, she is captain of the CTE Mock Trial team and a legal...
Varun Saravanan is in his third year of Wingspan and first as an executive producer. He's also President of Business Professionals of America on campus...
