On Oct. 30 and 31, Halloween Spirit Week promoted fun activities, including a costume contest, a pumpkin carving contest and a sweet tooth challenge. From outrageous costumes to guessing candy jars, students enthusiastically dove into Halloween festivities. Wednesday began with the pumpkin carving showdown. Ten pumpkins were to be carved and all were claimed. Students were given the lunch period to decorate and carve their pumpkins. Additionally, SMART classes were given the opportunity to opt into the contest and spend their class time carving pumpkins.
Before the costume contest on Thursday, each pumpkin was lined up and displayed. The judges, teachers Stephen Hart, Melissa Boles and David Plescia went through each pumpkin and whichever got the loudest applause won.
The first-place pumpkin was the labrador pumpkin, inspired by Rocket, one of the Wellness Center’s therapy dogs. The attendance office skillfully crafted this award-winning pumpkin.
Counselor Tami Wall, one of the collaborators on the Rocket Pumpkin, commented on her appreciation for the recognition it received.
“We want everyone to know how much time we spent on our Rocket pumpkin and how proud we are that we won,” Wall said.
The costume contest kicked off at lunch on Halloween the following day. Students arrived at school dressed in their best costumes for the categories of catescariest costume, best group costume, best homemade costume, most original costume and best teacher costume. The winner of each category won a Boo-Basket with various fall-themed items.
At the end of each category, Hart, Boles and Plescia voted on who the winner was. The winner of the scariest costume was the scarecrow, sophomore Olivia Ralston. The winner of the best group costume was the ghosts from the Special Education classroom, the winner of the best homemade costume was a stormtrooper, made by sophomore Charlie Jones, the winner of the most original costume was dressed as “super seniors” and the winner of the best teacher group costume was “Inside Out.”
Science teacher Boles, dressed up as a microwave with the science department, discussed the process of selecting the science teacher’s costumes.
“As a department, we struggled to come up with a big group costume, but we came up with the great idea of all being different waves,” Boles said.
In addition to the costume contest, there was also a thrilling doughnut-eating game. There were two rounds, each with six students. The doughnuts were attached to strings hanging from a pole held above the contestants. They had to be the first to finish the doughnut without using their hands. The winner of the doughnut-eating contest was sophomore Jy Wexler.
The Halloween Spirit Week brought Redwood students and staff together through creative costumes, spirited competitions and festive games, making it a memorable celebration for all.
