Middle Schoolers enjoyed Halloween last week with a literary bent, swapping spooky stories and having a ton of fun. Middle School Librarian Bethany Kavanaugh, who described herself as “your resident swamp witch librarian,” coordinated two activities for our students before everyone gathered for an afternoon assembly.
Short and Sweet Stories of Horror
First, she invited Middle School students to submit “Two Sentence Horror Stories” for a friendly competition. After the submissions were in, she asked faculty and staff to review and vote on their favorites. While each story was creatively creepy, these three emerged as the favorites:
Tie for First Place
“Camping with the family. No wi-fi.” by Ruby Walker ’31. A truly terrifying prospect for many of us!
“There he stood, shadows swirling around him, blood dripping from his hand, with a knife gripped tightly in his fist. As my breath slowed and a heavy darkness crept in, I realized I would never open my eyes again.” by Blair Cabbabe ’31. Well, that one might keep us up at night!
Runner-up
“I always thought that I needed a big strong man to save me just like in the fairy tales. Turns out that big strong man was the one I needed saving from.” by Ellie Jones ’30. What a twist at the end!
Well done, spooky scribes! And thanks to everyone who penned an entry.
A Stage of Spooky Stories
Kavanaugh then turned to her colleagues to make Friday, October 31, a haunted holiday. She invited teachers to read Spooky Stories. Classes took turns gathering in the Freeman Arts Building’s blackbox theatre, where students listened as their ghoulish educators delighted in sharing tales of horror.
From a babysitting job gone awry to stories of possessed smart phones, a haunted elevator, a mysterious, disappearing classroom in a middle school, and yearbook photos with creepy kids in the background, each reader cast a spell over the audience.
Many thanks to Summer Beasley, Michael Fitzgerald, Charlotte Dougherty, Steve Looten, Tex Tourais, Dr. Sally Maxwell, and Deb Mein, along with the Queen of Creepy herself, Ms. Kavanaugh, for taking time to share their stories.
An Assembly of Halloween Mayhem
As the school day wound to a close, Middle Schoolers assembled in Mary Eliot Chapel for an assembly. Student leaders selected two schoolmates from each grade to come to the front for a pumpkin decorating contest. Teams received a pumpkin, a decorating kit, and an assigned “creature” and headed backstage to get to work. They could use only the supplies in their kits, and they were required to use a “mystery supply” no matter what. They knew their pumpkins would be judged for creativity, attention to detail, and thematic execution.
Meanwhile, the assembly continued with the Boo Who reveal, which generated tons of laughter as students realized just how much they missed the mark on some of these Middle School ghosts.
Crowd participation abounded with some creative (and physical) Halloween fun. The students played “Please stand up if…” and jumped to their feet when each description was appropriate:
- You have worn a costume that makes it impossible to sit down.
- You like chocolate over gummy candy.
- You like winter holidays over Halloween.
- You plan on trick-or-treating.
- You think you can scare the person next to you.
Since this was a Middle School assembly, the student leaders made a variety of important announcements, which also served to give the backstage pumpkin decorators a bit more time to finish their creations. One of their messages was to remind everyone that Turkey Train is coming up November 10-24, and to please “bring in LOTS of Thanksgiving-related food items (cans/boxes).”
Finally, the decorated pumpkins were ready, and the winner was announced: Team Seventh Grade, consisting of Henry Sharp ’31 and Jasmine Bell ’31, took the win with a monster-themed gourd.
A special dismissal ensured that fifth grade was released first to parade across the stage in their Halloween costumes on their way out to their afternoon party in the dining hall.
What a fun day for our Middle School ghosts and goblins!