In honor of the spooky season, American Studies classes are reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, as well as listening to teacher Whitney Schell and Ashley Harrison retell Civil War ghost stories. This Halloween-themed lecture works as both a way for students to continue their studies of the Civil War era, as well as a fun opportunity for spine-tingling tales.

“The really cool thing about doing something festive is it allows us to combine our content and fun activities to ensure the kids learn something and have fun while doing it,” AMSTUD teacher Ashley Harrison said. “We both thought that it would be a fun activity to show the students that studying English and History doesn’t mean it’ll be boring and that it can be educational and interesting at the same time.”

Juniors Avani Chinwan is excited for these seasonal stories, and looking forward to a fun twist from usual lectures.

“I’m looking forward to it because I think it will be cool to focus on Halloween and still have fun while we’re at school,” Chinwan said. “I think it’s really cool that [Ms. Harrison and Mrs. Schell] are doing something different because it’s Halloween. I also like ghost stories, so I’m excited to see what stories they tell.”

Besides simply being a way to celebrate Halloween, these stories are still on track with the classes’ current learning topic.

“I think it’s fun that they are incorporating Halloween into the class,” junior Aarush Madhireddy said. “I think it will make this class more fun and festive while still being educational.”

Harrison hopes that students will also gain some background knowledge for the upcoming Civil War unit.

“We hope the students get some background information/context into the Civil war before we study it,” Harrison said. “As well as some time to practice their analysis skills using different sources.”