West Chicago Community High School’s Student Council concluded a fun-filled Halloween Spirit Week on October 28, bringing students together.

The Halloween Spirit Days started on Monday, October 25. On Monday, students from each grade level were supposed to dress in colors that were assigned (by Student Council) to their school year: freshmen dressed in black, sophomores in orange, juniors in purple, and seniors in green.

Santiago Villa, a senior, said, “I think that a large majority of the school participated since it was something anyone could easily do.”

Tuesday was Preppy Day, so students dressed in preppy clothes, such as sweater vests, trousers, or skirts.

In line with the latest TikTok trend and other schools, Wednesday was Anything but a Backpack Day. Students carried their school supplies in anything other than a backpack so long as it could be carried up stairs, such as a basket, an umbrella, a microwave, or even a stroller.

Student Council also hosted WeGo Spooky on Wednesday, October 27 from 4-5:30 p.m. at the high school. There were a total of six clubs that participated in WeGo Spooky, including National Honor Society, which offered a Pop-a-Pumpkin for a treat game as well as temporary tattoos, WeGo Global, which provided a photo booth, and the Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA), which provided Eyeball Bozo Buckets and Silhouette Spooky Art. 

On October 28, before classes started, a costume contest was held in Commons. Students and teachers were allowed to wear their Halloween costumes (so long as they did not wear masks or hats that did not match the outfit, nor bring look-alike weapons). Before the contest, seniors Andy Georgiev and Jacob Sennese, and junior David Johnson played songs in Commons to help get the festivities started. Students who participated formed a line so that others could vote for whom they believed had the best costume. There were many great costumes seen in the Commons and the hallways, such as The Joker, Arthur Read, a snowman, a fallen angel, and a plague doctor. 

The costume contest brought together students from all grade levels. Sheila Mejia, a senior, said, “I liked how everyone seemed to be close friends with each other that day.”

During the week leading up to Halloween, Horticulture Club also hosted its annual pumpkin-decorating contest. Students were able to submit multiple pumpkins, and some of the entries included a scene based on The Nightmare Before Christmas, a skeleton carved pumpkin, an Angry Bird painted pumpkin, a Patrick Star painted pumpkin, and even a dragon carved pumpkin.

Jenise Sanchez, a senior, said, “I liked the one that looked like a voodoo doll because it seemed well put together.”

On October 28, students were given the choice to vote for their top three favorite pumpkin entries on a Google Form distributed in third-hour classes. There were twenty pumpkin entries, which, according to Horticulture Club sponsor and science teacher Corrie Stieglitz, was the largest number in recent years. The top three winners were freshman Brandon Perez, who came in third, junior Taylor Estrada who came in second, and sophomore Diana Mackintos, who earned first place.

Activity Director Marc Wolfe said, “Halloween Week went great. Student Council planned spirit days, hosted WeGo Spooky on Wednesday night for children in our community, and held the annual costume contest for students and staff before school on Thursday.”

Students had a great time during the Spirit Days this year. Most looked forward to seeing what their friends brought to school on Anything but a Backpack Day, and others enjoyed dressing up throughout the week, as well as voting for the best costume on the final day. There was noticeable laughter in the halls throughout the week, showing that students were having fun celebrating Halloween.