“Trick or treat!” This Halloween at Edison Intermediate School (EIS) was a serious treat. According to CNN, some of the most popular costumes this year were Barbie, Spider-Man, and Wednesday Addams! What was your costume this year? Halloween was extra exciting because the winners were unexpected, there was spooky excitement in the air, and the candy was record-breaking!
Every year at Edison Intermediate School (EIS), there are awards for each grade level and teachers’ costumes. The sixth grade individual costume winner was Casey Smith as a Cupid and the sixth-grade group costume winners were dressed as Dubble Bubble. Many students were impressed by this costume. Sixth graders Emily Kiss, Molly and Maeve Brennan stated, “My favorite group costume was the Dubble Bubble.”
Next, the seventh-grade individual costume winner was Ryan Leffler as a Cheez-It, and the seventh-grade group costume winners were dressed up in giraffe onesies.
The eighth grade individual costume winner was Harry Sherman dressed up as a blow-up chicken, and the group costume winners were Toy Story aliens.
Then, the most exciting award, was the teachers! The group costume contest winners were The Little Mermaid! These teachers worked very hard on their costumes and everyone was pleased with them winning. Sixth grader Sophia Wei explained, “I liked the Little Mermaid costumes; they looked good and homemade.”
The teachers’ competition included Barbie, the Little Mermaid, and the Taylor Swift Eras. The Little Mermaid’s competitor, eighth grade guidance counselor Mrs. Webster admitted “I would like to win, but the Little Mermaid costumes were really good.”
Additionally, most EIS students and staff loved Halloween. Students collected lots of candy, and many had traditions they followed. “Normally, I go trick or treating for 5 hours and I fill up an entire pillowcase,” eighth grader Mathilde Fleischman revealed.
Sixth grader Josephine Troup explained, “Usually, I get around 200 pieces of candy.”
Furthermore, a popular Halloween tradition is to ‘boo’ friends and family. Computer technology teacher Mrs. Aimee Fahy explained that it is a huge thing on her street. “A tradition that I have with my family on Halloween is that we go to boo people. We use paper bags, put their names on them, and put candy in them. I have always been the driver and my children have been doing it every year, other than the one that’s in college. Now that my kids are older, we sometimes purposely get caught by the kids to make it a bit more fun,” Mrs. Fahy exclaimed.
Do you know the origins of Halloween? According to the Library of Congress, “The holiday of Halloween has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, a pagan religious celebration to welcome the harvest at the end of summer when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.”
Some teachers at EIS had special lesson plans for Halloween. Many incorporated fun, spooky, and candy-related activities into their learning assignments. “I had a fun Halloween activity planned in which our math lesson incorporates spider webs,” Math 8 teacher Mrs. Semon stated.
Finally, every year, the SGA sells Boo Grams. They are gifts bought for friends that include a piece of candy and a note that says who the candy was from. On Halloween, all of the Boo Grams are sent to homerooms. This year, everyone was very keen to buy them. Eighth-grader Anish Iyer stated, “This year, we sold 1000 boo grams! It was record-breaking!” In all, Halloween was a success.
Eighth grader Norah Mendel stated, “You could feel the Halloween excitement in the air. Everyone was dressed up and it was really fun!”
