Published: Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Have some lost spirit behind Halloween?
At one school, it's Vocabulary Day. At another, it is no more.
It's Halloween, of course, but for many kids that means just another day, at least until school lets out.
This year, Everett's Lowell Elementary School is ending its tradition of allowing students to wear costumes on Halloween. In the past, the school let kids dress up as book characters.
"At Lowell, comments I heard from staff about the character day was that kids were coming as Spider-Man and Ninja Turtles," said Mary Waggoner, spokeswoman for the Everett School District. "It was turning into Halloween."
Oh, those kids. Let them dress up on Oct. 31 and they'll do something crazy like turn it into Halloween.
No doubt about it, a celebration with roots steeped in paganism and the Roman Catholic observance of All Saints Day is a thorny problem for schools. Barbs aimed at Halloween are hurled from all directions. Schools are increasingly sensitive to the many cultures represented by their students.
Some evangelical Christians see Halloween as the devil's holiday, not to be acknowledged at all. At the other end of the spectrum are followers of the Wiccan religion. In 2004, the Puyallup School District banned Halloween after pagans complained about elementary schoolchildren's depiction of witchcraft.
Religion and nonbelief aside, there's education. Even in lower grades, test scores matter these days. "Most schools in the country have moved away from cupcake parties like Halloween. They are a distraction from what we're doing in the classroom," Waggoner said. "And with so many different populations, it can be exclusionary."
Everett schools haven't completely ditched Halloween. Whittier Elementary had an after-school Oktoberfest party last week. Costumes, not allowed during school, were optional. Teachers went all out with their pumpkin carvings, said Whittier office manager Laura Campbell.
Student body organizations at Cascade and Jackson high schools will put on after-school parties today, Waggoner said. Some events are dubbed harvest celebrations. Everett High, with its many Hispanic students, plans a Day of the Dead event for Thursday evening, Waggoner said.
In Arlington, Presidents Elementary School takes a novel approach. Halloween is Vocabulary Day, and kids dress up as words. "We try to bring in an educational flavor," said Presidents Principal Terri Bookey. Kids are asked to write about their words and describe costumes in advance "to make sure we aren't ending up with scary or violent costumes," Bookey said.
Becky Hollander, a program support specialist at the school, said she once dressed up as "abecedarian." Yes, I'll admit I learned something this Halloween. Abecedarian is "a person learning the alphabet, a beginning student, any beginner or novice," according to my Webster's dictionary.
"Young ladies," said Hollander, enjoy dressing up as "glamorous."
"Halloween is handled pretty low-key in our district, and building by building," said Misti Gilman, spokeswoman for the Arlington School District. "Kids having fun at school is always great, but without interruption to the educational program."
Yet at Trafton Elementary, Arlington's historical schoolhouse on Jim Creek Road, Halloween is celebrated the old-fashioned way. "At Trafton, students are allowed to dress up appropriately for the last hour of the day," Gilman said.
Kerry and Charlie Zoller have two children at Lowell, kindergartner Ethan and 8-year-old Jacob. Despite the costume ban, Kerry Zoller said, "I haven't heard anybody grumble."
"As far as I know, my kids aren't upset about it," she said. In Ethan's class, pumpkins will be the focus of today's fun.
Lowell Elementary plans a character day centered around literacy, but it won't be on Halloween, Waggoner said. That's fine with Zoller, who has enough to do today.
She'll dress up her boys -- Ethan as a package of M&M's and Jacob as a skateboarder -- for an event tonight at their church, Everett's New Life Center.
"At school, teachers are doing things around the change of seasons. It's hard to regulate costumes, to say no to blood and guts," Zoller said. "Our culture is so diverse nowadays. People can choose what they want to do outside school, in their own family."
Fair enough, but please don't expect a "happy harvest" greeting from me.
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
It's Halloween, of course, but for many kids that means just another day, at least until school lets out.
This year, Everett's Lowell Elementary School is ending its tradition of allowing students to wear costumes on Halloween. In the past, the school let kids dress up as book characters.
"At Lowell, comments I heard from staff about the character day was that kids were coming as Spider-Man and Ninja Turtles," said Mary Waggoner, spokeswoman for the Everett School District. "It was turning into Halloween."
Oh, those kids. Let them dress up on Oct. 31 and they'll do something crazy like turn it into Halloween.
No doubt about it, a celebration with roots steeped in paganism and the Roman Catholic observance of All Saints Day is a thorny problem for schools. Barbs aimed at Halloween are hurled from all directions. Schools are increasingly sensitive to the many cultures represented by their students.
Some evangelical Christians see Halloween as the devil's holiday, not to be acknowledged at all. At the other end of the spectrum are followers of the Wiccan religion. In 2004, the Puyallup School District banned Halloween after pagans complained about elementary schoolchildren's depiction of witchcraft.
Religion and nonbelief aside, there's education. Even in lower grades, test scores matter these days. "Most schools in the country have moved away from cupcake parties like Halloween. They are a distraction from what we're doing in the classroom," Waggoner said. "And with so many different populations, it can be exclusionary."
Everett schools haven't completely ditched Halloween. Whittier Elementary had an after-school Oktoberfest party last week. Costumes, not allowed during school, were optional. Teachers went all out with their pumpkin carvings, said Whittier office manager Laura Campbell.
Student body organizations at Cascade and Jackson high schools will put on after-school parties today, Waggoner said. Some events are dubbed harvest celebrations. Everett High, with its many Hispanic students, plans a Day of the Dead event for Thursday evening, Waggoner said.
In Arlington, Presidents Elementary School takes a novel approach. Halloween is Vocabulary Day, and kids dress up as words. "We try to bring in an educational flavor," said Presidents Principal Terri Bookey. Kids are asked to write about their words and describe costumes in advance "to make sure we aren't ending up with scary or violent costumes," Bookey said.
Becky Hollander, a program support specialist at the school, said she once dressed up as "abecedarian." Yes, I'll admit I learned something this Halloween. Abecedarian is "a person learning the alphabet, a beginning student, any beginner or novice," according to my Webster's dictionary.
"Young ladies," said Hollander, enjoy dressing up as "glamorous."
"Halloween is handled pretty low-key in our district, and building by building," said Misti Gilman, spokeswoman for the Arlington School District. "Kids having fun at school is always great, but without interruption to the educational program."
Yet at Trafton Elementary, Arlington's historical schoolhouse on Jim Creek Road, Halloween is celebrated the old-fashioned way. "At Trafton, students are allowed to dress up appropriately for the last hour of the day," Gilman said.
Kerry and Charlie Zoller have two children at Lowell, kindergartner Ethan and 8-year-old Jacob. Despite the costume ban, Kerry Zoller said, "I haven't heard anybody grumble."
"As far as I know, my kids aren't upset about it," she said. In Ethan's class, pumpkins will be the focus of today's fun.
Lowell Elementary plans a character day centered around literacy, but it won't be on Halloween, Waggoner said. That's fine with Zoller, who has enough to do today.
She'll dress up her boys -- Ethan as a package of M&M's and Jacob as a skateboarder -- for an event tonight at their church, Everett's New Life Center.
"At school, teachers are doing things around the change of seasons. It's hard to regulate costumes, to say no to blood and guts," Zoller said. "Our culture is so diverse nowadays. People can choose what they want to do outside school, in their own family."
Fair enough, but please don't expect a "happy harvest" greeting from me.
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
Comments
(
