MVHS held its first staff-wide Halloween costume contest since the COVID-19 pandemic on Friday, Oct. 31, during lunch in the staff lounge. The department costume themes, led by the department leads, came up with matching costumes for their respective subjects. The special education department dressed as characters from the film “Inside Out,” counselors as construction workers and history teachers as the character Walda with one teacher secretly dressed as Waldo in accordance to the book series “Where’s Waldo?” The science teachers dressed as the Lorax from the Universal Pictures film and Dr. Seuss’ book “The Lorax,” while the math department stuck 6s and 7s on their backs to dress as the popular meme, 67. English department lead Lynn Rose was mother nature and the rest of the department were forest flora and fauna. Each group received different bags of candy, with one of them being a bag of Ghirardelli peppermint chocolate. The winners chose their prize first.
Lead Resource Specialist and Special Education Department Lead Ruth Seyer had the idea to reinstate the annual costume contest. Preparing the contest was a collaborative effort between both the staff and the Leadership Team. Executive Assistant Monique Franzino organized catering from Panda Express, and Assistant Principal Mike White brought games such as Connect Four and Jenga, which staff played throughout the event. White also emcee’d the competition, announcing the winners and acknowledging those who helped set up the contest.
Seyer led the organization of the event after getting her idea approved by the Leadership Team. She says that she enjoys seeing the creative costumes that the departments devise.
“The teachers in their departments have always come up with some really creative, very fun ideas,” Seyer said. “When you unleash that creativity, it’s amazing what comes out.”
Despite not having a contest in previous years, some departments still had coordinated costumes regardless. Guidance Counselor Belinda Olson says that having a contest this year motivated the more competitive staff to embrace their characters more than they normally would. This year, the counselors dressed up as construction workers to include Guidance Counselor Ashley Voigt’s upcoming baby, carrying signs that read, “Caution, bump ahead,” with Voigt’s sign reading, “Attention, yield to the bump.”
“We wanted to support her baby, so our team decided to be construction workers,” Olson said. “It was really cute because it’s not something you can do unless you have a bump. And so, it was a very opportune time to celebrate as a team.”
