On October 29, AFS club held a pumpkin-carving contest in celebration of Halloween. Given the chance to show their artistic abilities, students were excited to participate in the fun event. Some were motivated by the possibility of winning one of the four monetary prizes. Throughout the two days following the carving contest, Old Rochester Regional High School staff members voted on the 18 jack-o-lanterns on display in the school’s lobby. Winners were announced on Halloween.
The first place prize of $50 went to Kyra Lorden for her carving of the Pokemon character Charmander. Second place prize, $30, went to Chrystina Hai and Hannah Lerman. Third place prize, $20, was awarded to Andrew Carey, and fourth place prize, $10, was granted to Matthew Fortin.
The preschool students were also given a chance to vote for their favorite pumpkin. Thus an honorary $10 prize was given to Morgan Browning and Samantha Malatesta for their pumpkin carving of a kitten.
The event was organized by AFS club, but the entire school was invited to participate. “We did it on a smaller scale last year, and the kids that did it really enjoyed it,” said club advisor Kim Corazzini. “I thought that it would be fun to generalize it to the whole school.”
While the pumpkin carving ran smoothly, the planning behind the event was extensive. Art teacher Joanne Barrett generously allowed the students to use the art room for the carving process. Students were asked to bring their own pumpkins, but the carving tools posed a dilemma.
“Obviously we couldn’t have kids bringing cutting materials into school,” said Corazzini. “That was one of the problems, but we were able to figure it out.”
The Mattapoisett Brotherhood of Police Officers kindly donated supplies for carving. They purchased packages of tools for the pumpkin hollowing and carving process. The Brotherhood also charitably donated the monetary prizes.
“It all came together,” Corazzini said. “It was nice. It wasn’t just AFS kids that did it, so that was fun.”
Next year, Corazzini hopes to open the event even further. Along with the pumpkin carving contest, she would like the AFS club to create a “haunted hallway” for the other students and younger kids to enjoy. Corazzini said she would love the event to be something the community could participate in, along with ORR. With all the creative jack-o-lanterns carved at the contest, it seems a shame that they aren’t displayed longer. “I’d like to share them with other people if we could,” Corazzini said.
As next year’s plans are brewing, this year’s pumpkin-carving contest can be considered a great success.
By Renae Reints
