Halloween for juniors brings together a divided grade each year

Choosing a costume is a fun but sometimes stressful part of Halloween, especially when choosing for a group.  At Schreiber, the junior girls have a tradition of planning a group costume together.  This task can be daunting, but as previous years have proven, it can also have a quite satisfying outcome.

“I have loved seeing the junior girls’ costumes in previous years.  I am excited that it is now our turn to wear a coordinated group costume,” said junior Lucy Hurt.

Some of the costumes in past years have included doctor zombies inspired by the shows Grey’s Anatomy and The Walking Dead, prisoners from Orange is the New Black, and aliens from Toy Story.

The point of the costume is to come up with an idea together to unite the grade.  However, many of the Juniors would agree that the process of choosing a costume is difficult because it is hard to accommodate the diverse opinions of almost 200 girls.  The girls used a Facebook group in order to suggest and vote on costume ideas.  In a group, members can create polls for others to vote on, or add on, new ideas.  Members are supposed to feel free to post new ideas and comment on existing posts.  The group was created at the end of last school year, and the girls have been brainstorming ideas for over four months.

“It was hard to agree on a costume even when we created polls in the Facebook group.  A lot of the number of votes for some choices were very close,” said junior Idell Rutman.

Some of the junior girls found it frustrating when people said a costume was the final decision, but then changed it.  Someone could be off Facebook for one day, come back the next, and find that the costume has been completely changed.

“It was difficult to finalize any costume with so many girls involved because there were always some people who weren’t happy with it,” said junior Saige Gitlin.

There are many factors which needed to be considered when choosing a costume.  The students had to make sure that the costume was affordable so that all the junior girls could participate in the tradition.  They also had to find a website or store that had enough of the same costume in stock.  There were also some disagreements between the girls about wearing the same costume, as it has been done in previous years, or following a similar theme, but a different costume.  For example, some girls suggested that the juniors all dress up as different animals.

“It was difficult to balance cost, originality and creativity,” said Rutman.

Over the past few months, there were many costume ideas which the junior girls have considered.  Each time, the ideas passed through a process of being introduced as a post, included in a poll, and voted on by the girls.  If people came up with another idea that seemed better, the previous idea was weeded out through a process of leaving comments to consider something new.

“Costume suggestions have included characters from movies and shows, including Harry Potter and Pikachu.  There were also some funnier costume suggestions, such as bowling pins, sheep, and dominoes,” says Hurt.

The final costume decision is yet to be seen on Halloween.  Many students are anticipating what it will be.  In previous years, the junior girls go to school early on Halloween so they can take pictures in their costumes.  This year, the girls intend to do this as well.

“I am glad the decision process is over, and I am excited for everyone to see our costume on Halloween,” said Hurt.

Despite the many difficulties involved in deciding on a costume, the tradition is meant to be fun for all the girls as they come together to participate as a united grade.