John Dewey High School, a school that is constantly hosting events, ended up with the month of October filled with events back-to-back, which kept everyone on their toes. These events included a scare room which was available to seniors only, Pumpkin painting, a Halloween movie night, and possibly the most captivating Halloween based event of them all, a glow-in-the-dark dance.
The dance took place on October 27, two weeks after Friday the 13th and went on from 6 pm to 10 pm. Tickets were on sale prior to the event with the community coordinator, Ms. Vanessa in room 163 near scanning. Admission cost five dollars.
The event was set to take place in the cafe and was open to all. Outsiders that were attending the event should have been verified by October 20. The only requisite that the school asks of all attending students, is that they make sure they aren’t failing two or more classes.
In the prelude to the dance, JDHS’s community coordinator, Ms. Vanessa provided her perspective when it came to the many events happening during that month.
According to Ms.Vanessa, the event was something that was done last year. This year it was decided to host the event without all of the theatrics and symbolism that Halloween brings. Ms. Vanessa confirmed that the event was planned by a team that includes her and Mr. Butler along with other members of the school community.
These sorts of events were confirmed to be all student-led, in which certain students worked together with the community coordinator, such as members of the student council, making up the whole team, to see what worked and what didn´t with prior events. This allowed for those events to be further improved in the future and relaunched better than before.
The committee understands that there is a percentage of students who don’t celebrate Halloween and that’s why parts of the event were changed, to allow a greater part of the community to have the opportunity to participate in these types of events.
Ms. Vanessa also noted that this is the first big event of the school year; and with over 20 years working at the Department of Education, planning an event like this isn’t stressful at all. The only thing that worries Ms. Vanessa is whether or not the students feel safe in the events that the team plans for the student body.
When asked what her expectations were for this event, Ms. Vanessa revealed that she desired for the whole student body, all 2,200 currently attending students to attend the event, and wear something glow-in-the-dark in a show of true school spirit.
The lack of Halloween based decorating also gave students who usually don’t participate due to cultural or religious reasons the chance to mingle with students that they usually wouldn’t be interacting with.
The school was also referred to as a “true melting pot” by the community coordinator, which makes it even more important to accommodate all of the different cultures that make up JDHS.
