This year, McCallum celebrated Halloween and Dia de los Muertos alongside MacTheatre’s inaugural Fairytale Ball, a replacement for the longstanding Princess Tea Party and a fundraiser for the program. McCallum’s Halloween celebrations this year consisted of the annual Costume Contest and the traditional Blue Brigade officer-chosen costumes for the pep rally. As for Dia de los Muertos, various Spanish classes collaborated on the annual ofrenda (offering), an altar meant to honor the lives of loved ones who have passed on. 

We are proud to present our coverage of Dia de los Muertos, Halloween, and the Fairytale Ball for this week’s Tuesday Top 10.

HALLOWEEN HALFTIME: Junior Jill Hoffman and sophomore Ruby Chalupka perform their halftime routine in costume during the Halloween football game this past Thursday. For each squad on Blue Brigade, the officer gets to choose the costume that the dancers wear during the game. Since Hoffman is the officer of her squad, she chose a Wizard of Oz-themed costume, where each member is a different character from the movie. This included Dorothy, the scarecrow, the lion, Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West.

“Me and my squad went back and forth on our costumes a lot,” Hoffman said. “It was Minions, then safari at one point, but we landed on Wizard of Oz because we thought it was super cute to each be a different character from the movie.”

Although the outfits change, the Blue Brigade and band halftime show routine stays the same. The majority of cheer, Blue Brigade and band members dress up and learn to work around the restrictions of their costume while they perform.

“The best part of the game was definitely dancing during halftime in our costumes,” Hoffman said. “This year we had some really awesome ones like founding fathers and Smurfs that were super funny to see on the field, so that was definitely a highlight.”

In the past, most of the Halloween games have never been on Oct. 31. However, this year it just worked out that the game was actually on Halloween night.

“I’ve always loved the Halloween game and actually having one on Halloween this year was super fun,” Hoffman said. “Almost all of my friends were involved with the game in some way so we were all there together anyways which was awesome.”

Caption by Harper Maxwell. Photo by Julia Copas.

“KETCHING UP” WITH ADAME: The McCallum costume contest took place last Thursday on Halloween during lunch. Vice Principal Gabriel Adame, shown here reading the first issue of the Shield which was distributed on Thursday, wanted to join in on the contest, after being away from McCallum for a year.

“I decided to participate because I missed McCallum so much and I wanted to do anything I could to participate in the festivities,” Adame said.

Confusion arose on whether Adame was a crayon or a traffic cone, but after further clarification, Adame revealed that he was a bottle of ketchup, and his costume coordinated with his family.

“Most people thought I was a crayon, but I was really a ketchup bottle,” Adame said. “My wife was mustard, and my new weiner dog was a hot dog.”

Caption by Sienna Martens. Photo by Beatrix Lozach.

FINAL SENIOR BATTLE CRY: Julia Rasp and Trinity Ritcherson lead the crowd during the playing of “Hawk” at the final pep rally of the school year while dressed up for the Halloween game. As a known participant in the spirit days, Rasp first wore her doctor costume to school for Halloween during her freshman year. This past Thursday was her last time wearing it for Halloween at McCallum.

“It’s kind of silly actually, but I got the doctor costume my freshman year, and I’ve worn it almost every Halloween at school,” Rasp said. “It kinda became a tradition for me, and I like being Dr. J.”

Although the pep rallies may be over, Rasp still has lots of school spirit for her peers and will continue to dress up whenever she gets the chance.

“My favorite part of being emcee is sharing my love and spirit for McCallum,” Rasp said. “I love cheering on the cheerleaders, Blue Brigade, football, and color guard, also of course love dressing up for the spirit days.”

With a year of uncertainty on who would win the victory chant, Rasp and Ritcherson hoped the seniors could claim the final pep rally win. Thankfully, their hopes were fulfilled once Dance director Terrance Carson announced the seniors as the winners.

“It was a wonderful last pep rally,” Rasp said. “I was just thrilled that the seniors won the game and victory chant, and the pep rally just felt so fulfilling. Even though there was some relief in that being the last one, it was really bittersweet because I just adore pep rallies and leading them with Trinity.”

Caption and photo by Harper Maxwell.

PITCHING UP HALLOWEEN SPIRIT: Dressed up as Thing 1, junior Jay Sanchez pitches in a softball scrimmage on Halloween. Martinez wasn’t the only one in Halloween spirit as her teammates dressed up in a variety of costumes, from Mario from Super Mario Bros to Kim Kardashian.

“It was cool to see what people were dressing up as,” Sanchez said. “We each talked about our costumes and why we picked them.”

When choosing her costume, Sanchez knew that she wanted to pick a costume she could wear with her best friend, so the duo decided to dress up as two iconic characters from The Cat in the Hat.

“I was Thing 1 and my best friend was Thing 2,” Sanchez said. “We decided to do that because we’ve been best friends since pre-K, so it was a cute costume that we could do together.”

While Sanchez enjoyed dressing up for Halloween, the costumes occasionally interfered with the game, making it harder to pitch and execute plays.

“The costumes would get in the way sometimes,” Sanchez said. “My tutu, whenever I was pitching, would slow my ball down.”

Although the costumes may have led to some mishaps, softball players felt that the positives of playing in them outweighed the negatives. According to Junior Jaelynn Martinez, who was dressed up as Thing 2 with Sanchez, wearing Halloween costumes to practice led to a relaxed atmosphere.

“I think it made things a lot more fun because everyone was enjoying their time,” Martinez said.

Caption by Elizabeth Nation. Photo by Maya Tackett.

MONSTROUS MASTERPIECE: Inspired by the recent release of the new Venom movie just a week before Halloween, senior Alastair Sharp decided to transform into the iconic character for the costume contest.

After watching the film, he immediately began crafting his costume.

“On Saturday, I started shopping for materials, and from Sunday to Wednesday, I dedicated myself to creating it,” Sharp said. “Making the costume was a lot of fun, but it was also quite tedious.”

The entire process took about 15 hours. He began by searching online for a helmet template, then carefully cut out the pieces from foam, glued them together, and painted the final product.

“Every Halloween since elementary school, I’ve been making my own costumes,” Sharp said. “It feels like I have to outdo myself every year.”

Sharp said his first Halloween costume in elementary school inspired him to be creative with his costumes ever since.

“I started making my own Halloween costumes in elementary school,” Sharp said. “My dad and I created a pterodactyl costume with big wings and a beak. It was so cool, and ever since then, I’ve challenged myself to make an even cooler costume each year.”

Reflecting on the creativity in the costume contest, Sharp said he was very impressed by the other contestants.

“It was really exciting to see how everyone else’s costumes turned out, especially the dragon costume,” Sharp said. “Everyone did an amazing job.”

Caption by Mira Patel. Photo by Chloe Lewcock.

SPOOKTACULAR STYLES: This year’s Halloween costume contest was celebrated on Thursday. Sophomore Milo Menke, a spirited student, took part in this year’s Halloween contest dressing as Dipper Pines from Gravity Falls. Milo says the costume was inspired for his love of the cartoon when he was younger.

“It was an easy costume and it was a cartoon I liked a lot when I was younger,” Menke said.

Milo said he found the perfect partner for this costume. Sophomore Rey Mallory, dressed as Mabel Pines, took this role proudly. They both found the same love for the show and explained the simplicity but creativity of the costume.

“I had planned this costume with her since summertime,” Menke said. “We searched through several different costumes and decided on this one because it was easy and meant something to both of us.”

Caption by Eva Sanchez. Photo by Sophia Manos.

THREE LITTLE PIGS AND THE BIG BAD WOLF: Junior Sara Hamlet conducts the band during halftime of McCallum vs. Navarro at House Park on Halloween night.

Hamlet and fellow drum majors junior Rachel Tun-Torres and senior Max Davis dressed up as the three little pigs, and head drum major, senior Bea Saffer completed the group costume as the big bad wolf.

Hamlet said that they came up with the idea mainly for the humor, but also because the roles were fitting.

“As the head drum major Bea can get people to do what she needs them to do,” Hamlet said. “We thought the role of wolf fitting, and since the rest of us are new drum majors, we decided to be the three little pigs.”

Hamlet also said that getting to dress up was a great way for the band as a whole to have fun now that their competition season is over.

“We get to celebrate and enjoy the rest of the band season,” Hamlet said. “We get to have more fun and enjoy ourselves more [while] not in uniform.”

Caption and photo by Julia Copas.

A DAY OF MAGIC: Last Saturday, Mac Theatre presented its first annual Fairytale Ball in the McCallum cafeteria. The event, a Halloween fundraiser where students dress up and perform for kids, changed this year from its prior life as the Princess Tea Party to the Fairytale Ball. Instead of performing Disney songs, students performed scenes and engaged with the kids through activities.

Sophomore Clara Gosewehr said that the show portrays the classic story of good forgiving evil.

“In this photo, I’m being the fairy princess,” Gosewehr said. “I’m forgiving the evil fairy for stealing my crown.”

Gosewehr said that at the Fairytale Ball, kids were also able to walk around and participate in various arts and crafts and games run by the characters.

“We had face painting, hair braiding, horse racing, wand making, that kind of stuff,” Gosewehr said. “My favorite part was interacting with the kids while I was performing.”

Despite this being Mactheatre’s first ever Fairytale Ball, Gosewehr said that she thought that the performance went very well and that the kids seemed to enjoy it.

“We had a pretty good show, we had a lot of people there,” Gosewehr said. “Everybody seemed to be having a lot of fun. I think everyone enjoyed it a lot, but it is a bit different from Princess Tea Party.”

Caption by Katie Martin. Photo by Mike Grad.

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS: Freshman Hannah Kahn, alongside the rest of Jeanette Miranda’s and Graciela Rio’s Spanish classes, assisted in decorating the Dia de Los Muertos altar in the main hallway with Art Society members. Altars are commonly made on Dia de Los Muertos, translated as Day of the Dead, to remember and give offerings to those who have passed. According to Kahn, this experience has taught her more about the holiday.

“I’ve always seen the altars, but I had never really set one up myself before, so it was a fun new experience,” Kahn said, “and I got to learn more about Dia de los Muertos at the same time.”

Through this experience, Kahn also learned more about the history of Dia de Los Muertos and bonded with her peers and members of the Art Society.

“I got to meet some new people with the same interests as me,” Kahn said. “My favorite part was decorating artistically and learning new things simultaneously. I’m not in Art Society, but I do love art as a creative outlet, and it was a new way to be creative. Not necessarily a physical piece of art, but still a beautiful artwork.”

Kahn took Spanish in eighth grade before coming to McCallum and has been learning more about the language and Hispanic culture in her classes. Kahn said she enjoys learning a new language other than English that will benefit her throughout her life.

“My sister is fluent in Spanish, so I was interested in being able to speak to her in Spanish as well as English,” Kahn said. “I’m glad I’m learning a new language that I can take with me when traveling to new places and meeting new people. The process of setting up the Altar taught me more about Hispanic culture and made me appreciate it more.”

Caption by Wren Vanderford. Photo by Dave Winter.

A HALLOWEEN-SPIRITED PRACTICE: The varsity volleyball team has a tradition of dressing up in costume for a practice around Halloween, and this year the designated dress-up practice fell on Halloween Day itself.

“It’s super fun because it’s usually at the end of the season, and we all get to be a little silly together,” said senior and temporary frankfurter Kai Talebi.

Talebi dressed up as a hot dog, while fellow seniors Helen Rogers and Sophie Koch came as the peanut butter and jelly halves of a PB&J sandwich.

“My costume was a hot dog, which is kind of a running joke since it’s my favorite food, and I’m always bringing it up,” Talebi said.

This practice is always silly because no one is in their regular practice wear.

Caption by Josie Linton. Photo by Lucy Tepera.