Despite this year’s regulations regarding COVID-19, Sacred Heart Greenwich students were able to celebrate and continue Halloween traditions at school.  The student council created weekly Halloween challenges, culminating in the green and white teams competing for the Halloween Cup.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) placed Halloween festivities in low risk, moderate risk, and high risk categories.  High-risk activities include harvest festivals, costume parades, haunted houses, and indoor parties.  Trick-or-treating, although not recommended, continued while following public health guidelines.  This entailed mask-wearing, hand washing, avoiding physical contact, and maintaining six feet or greater distance from other trick-or-treaters.  If trick-or-treating posed too much of a risk, the CDC suggested at-home activities, such as carving or decorating pumpkins, a scavenger hunt, a virtual costume contest, a movie night, or decorating a lawn or living space.

Although engaging in several popular Halloween celebrations was highly discouraged, students managed to maintain the festive spirit.  Senior Alana Frederick, Head of Committee of Games, led the student council efforts to continue Upper School Halloween celebrations safely.  Working towards winning the Halloween Cup, the members of the student council encouraged their peers to earn points for their respective team by completing challenges.

“I think Halloween this year, although different than in the past, has only brought the Upper School together even more,” Alana said.  “We were able to compete in daily challenges, come up with costumes together, the student council ‘Boo’ed’ students’ lockers and the seniors even had some dance battles in the core center.  I think we can say the Halloween spirit was definitely alive this year in the Upper School, and it was some much needed fun after a very different start to the school year.”

In previous years, seniors presented their costumes to the entire Upper School in the Lennie and John de Csepel Theatre.  Due to social-distancing guidelines, the seniors revealed their costumes to the rest of the Upper School over Zoom.  The Upper School library also added to this year’s Halloween celebrations by placing a stack of “Spooky Reads” on top of one bookshelf.  The library requests that students wash or sanitize their hands before perusing the book selections.

Senior Morgan Wilkens, Student Body President, worked alongside Alana and the rest of the student council to find creative ways to continue and create Sacred Heart Halloween traditions.

“Halloween is the perfect time for all Upper School students to take a step back from the challenges of school work, dress up, and be silly,” Morgan said.  “It is a time of community building, relaxation, and fun, all of which was clear as each person let their creativity shine through their amazing costumes.”  

Featured Image by Gabrielle Wheeler ’23