Students and teachers alike dressed up for Halloween this year.
“[I like] all the free candy and getting to dress up as whatever you want,” sophomore Mayona Hoopes said. “I dressed up as a woodland fairy.”
Students are allowed to dress up however they want as long as they follow dress code. Costumes ranged from a panda to a student dressed as English IV teacher Tom Watterson to zombies covered in blood.
“[Whether Halloween should be scary] depends on your age, honestly,” senior Damon Meredith said. “When you’re a child, it should be really adorable, but when you’re a teenager, you get scared just for the thrill of it.”
Hoopes agreed with Meredith that as a teenager, being able to get scared adds to the fun of the holiday. However, for kids the main appeal is getting candy and the original stories have become lost.
“[Halloween] does have very interesting background stories,” Meredith said. “It has evolved quite a bit over the years, but it definitely has become a hallmark holiday, especially in America.”
Photos by Claire Sanford.
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
![WISHFUL WINDOW SHOPPING: Senior Mia Plemons observes the displays in the MAC during the 5x7 gallery night. Although not a member herself, Plemons feels a connection to the program through her friends and peers. “I have a lot of friends in art,” Plemons said. “And I’ve seen a lot of their work and it’s all really nice and beautiful, and I really enjoy seeing some of the nice pieces people have made.” Plemons didn’t manage to secure a piece of her own, but left impressed by all the ones she saw. “I didn’t [have a favorite], every piece of art I saw was just absolutely breathtaking,” Plemons said. “I think they should definitely do more things like this in the future. I think it’s definitely great for people in the art program to get their art out there and getting experience with making things that people buy.” Caption by Noah Braun. Photo by Lilah Lavigne.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/54188247349_62510240f2_o-e1733894950394-1200x976.jpg)
