Milton's Boarders Celebrate Halloween
By Nini Lu ‘29
This year, Milton’s Halloween festivities began early during the week before Halloween night. On Monday, October 27, and Tuesday, October 28, dorms paired off to partake in a pumpkin-carving competition: Robbins and Forbes, Hallowell and Goodwin, Hathaway and Wolcott, as well as Millet and Norris, were paired together.
Further split into different subgroups based on grade level, boarders fashioned a myriad of pumpkin designs. Most groups opted for the traditional method of cutting the top area with the stem, although this seemingly innocuous task was made leagues more difficult with the limited tools, including a small knife and a chisel. Thus, instead of using a spoon to scoop out the insides of the pumpkins, a combination of grabbing and chiseling the pulp out was used.
With students running around to “take inspiration” from others and laughter filling the air from questionable design choices, Isabel Luo ‘29 described the Robbins-Forbes event as being “fun but hectic.” She expressed great pride in her group’s Hello Kitty pumpkin. By the end of the hour, rows of decorated gourds, from classic jack-o’-lantern faces, a one-eyed cyclops monster, to elaborate cats, were standing.
On Friday, the day of Halloween, many students came to school dressed in their costumes. As Ben Wang ’27 remarked, “I like how so many people dressed up on Friday.” While many chose their costumes independently or to match with friends, various sports teams on campus coordinated dress themes, such as the football team, who dressed up in onesies as various animals: cows, dogs, mammoths, and more. Meanwhile, although not for Halloween, the boys cross-country team decided on their own theme, with their pre-ISL outfits being suits and ties paired with shorts, a choice that was “interesting but [showed] great team spirit,” according to team member Alex Signorovitch ’29. Both boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams were away for most of the day for the ISL Championship. Other sports teams also had their own special celebrations; the JV volleyball team, for example, wore face paint during practice.
In addition, many teachers found ways to incorporate the festivities into their classrooms: the Science Department’s Ms. Joanna Latham gave out spooky rubber ducks to students throughout the day, and others let their students watch the Lower School’s costume parade. Later that night, many boarders and some day students went out trick-ortreating around campus; some visited houses on Centre Street.
The following so-called “Halloweekend” was similarly packed. On Saturday night, around thirty students competed in a scavenger hunt on campus. SAA had hidden ten small pumpkins in evasive corners of the Stu and Warren, including behind doors and behind trash cans. Prizes for those who found the pumpkins included cozy blankets and Starbucks gift cards.
Dorm trick-or-treating on Sunday night proved a Halloween highlight for many boarders. For those participating from Hallowell over to Goodwin and Hathaway, the outing was long and accompanied by the chilly night air of November. Despite the chilliness of the night, “making smores was worth it,” according to Alyssa Liu ‘29. Students also filled bags of candy with Skittles, chocolate bars, and sweet snacks. “It was really fun,” said Vedashree Patil ‘28, “I got to go out with all the people in my dorm and we got candy.” However, Newnew Zhang ‘28 wished that participating students had not been sorted by their dorms, as she had hoped to spend time with friends from other dorms. For Angela Xu ‘27, her favorite part of Halloween was the candy, and trick-or-treating is one of her favorite activities as well. This year, with trick-or-treat happening during study hall, like many others, Xu didn’t have time to go. Overall, with pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating on offer, Halloweekend was far from boring for boarders