In October, when the leaves start falling, many Americans wait for October 31st, Halloween Day. It is the day in which people wear their costumes to scare people or trick them into giving candies.  Halloween was first celebrated in America, and it originated in Ireland, as an ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. During Halloween, kids go door to door for trick -or -treating and people decorate their houses with webs, lantern pumpkins and skeletons.

This year, Newcomers celebrated Halloween on the 29th of October, since the 31st of October is on a Sunday.  We celebrated with a Halloween costume contest, which the student government organized, and held in the auditorium after school. Tickets cost $1 dollar per student. There were also drinks and soda.

“It was a great contest and it was my first time participating in this kind of contest. I really liked it,” Patrick Mateo, who won second place, said.  “I dressed as a nun and initially I was thinking about dressing as a grandma because it’s funny. And my favorite custom was Ashley’s.  She wore a dark dress with a design of a bat or butterfly on the head band.”

Oriana Calderon and Juan Paredes won the contest, dressing as a guard and a prisoner, respectively.

Many students helped to make the event possible.  “[Student body president] Cesia Meneses and I were the main organizers and there were many students there that also helped us; Camila [Torero Mazzetti] and especially Zion Gonzales,” Emily Granja, the vice president, said.  “Stephania [Villavicencio] and many others helped us that day.”

Before the pandemic, Newcomers would hold Halloween parties every year.  But one was not scheduled for 2021.

“Victoria [Han] and I thought it would be fun to have a Halloween party and we had a meeting with the principal. She said that it was ok to hold the party for one or two hours” Granja said.  “This year is a new format.  Two years ago it was like a real party and this year it is a contest.  I really like how so many students participated in the contest and we had a very good audience and the host was so funny. I think it’s a good party to start the school year.”