The students of Old Rochester Regional High School were getting into the spooky Halloween spirit this past week as several activities themed around the holiday took place.
The American Field Service club held their annual pumpkin carving contest during their Tuesday session. Over 30 students crowded the art classroom to carve their various sized pumpkins, the smallest around the size of a clementine and the largest bigger than a basketball.
“We got to carve out pumpkins and listen to some fun, spooky music,” senior Hannah Powers said. “Everybody just had a good time and also got to laugh and enjoy each other’s attempts at designs.”
Creativity was rampant through the designs produced by the club members. For instance, one of the larger jack-o’-lanterns had its sharp teeth chomping down on a smaller squash, and one pumpkin appeared hypnotized.
Students had a chance to view the pumpkins in the main lobby during their English classes and voted to award prizes in four categories: cutest, scariest, most creative, and best traditional style jack-o’-lantern.
In the World Languages Department, students enrolled in the Spanish 3 classes created their own Day of the Dead altars in an interactive project to better learn about Mexican culture. After choosing a famous figure – dead or alive – they constructed dioramas to represent the gravestone and altar.
As with real Dia de los Muertos altars, students were required to include their person’s favorite food, skull decorations, and a candle (albeit these were battery-operated candles). The completed altars were lined up on the shelves in the school library to display to the rest of the student body.
“I did my altar on Michael Jackson,” said senior Maddie Scheub, adding that the design had a picture of the singer and sparkles to represent his iconic fashion.
Some other examples were of Walt Disney, Will Ferrell, and a Justin Beiber altar complete with a curtain of lights.
The Spanish classes further delved into Day of the Dead festivities by crafting sugar skulls during the actual holiday. The small traditional decorations were formed out of molds and students had the opportunity to shape and decorate their own sugar skulls.
By Jo Caynon