Gallery • 7 Photos

Zanna Allen

PIRATES AND ZOMBIES: Seniors Emily Cockerham-Lewis and Forest Fiedler pose for a photo in front of the stairs to Ms. West’s room right before the Halloween costume contest at lunch on Oct. 31. Both are National Art Honor Society officers, which means they organize and execute the club’s activities, one being the Halloween costume contest, an annual gathering where students wear costumes to school to show off their creativity for awards. In order to set the space up for the contest, the NAHS officers had to arrive half an hour before lunch. They set up the judges' table and put out the standees made by NAHS members the month leading up to the contest. Cockerham-Lewis, whose favorite holiday is Halloween, hopes that the tradition of the contest only grows. She believes that it’s a fun way to encourage costumes and enjoy the holiday together. “It was great to see our community come together and celebrate the creativity we have here, especially as an art school,” Cockerham-Lewis said. “I think the costumes were extra good this year, and I was proud of all of our contestants for going for it.” Both she and Fiedler thought enthusiasm was in the air this year. Fiedler, who gave every participant their numbers for judging, was able to see all the costumes up close. They were excited to be able to interact with everyone. “There were more people than I've ever seen participate, over 60. The decorations, trophies, and overall energy were better than I could have hoped for,” Fiedler said. “I think that even if it was a bit hectic leading up, the whole thing still went great on the day of the actual event. We were able to get a fun set of judges, everyone really rallied together and worked hard, and it showed.” Caption by Carlo Hinsdale.

On Friday, Oct. 31, McCallum hosted its annual Halloween costume contest in front of the dance and arts building during lunch. Students presented their costumes to a panel of teacher judges, competing in categories such as most creative, funniest, best group costume, scariest and overall best dressed.

We are proud to present the annual Halloween costume contest for this week’s Thursday Top 10.

PIRATES AND ZOMBIES: Seniors Emily Cockerham-Lewis and Forest Fiedler pose for a photo in front of the stairs to Ms. West’s room right before the Halloween costume contest at lunch on Oct. 31. Both are National Art Honor Society officers, which means they organize and execute the club’s activities, one being the Halloween costume contest, an annual gathering where students wear costumes to school to show off their creativity for awards.

In order to set the space up for the contest, the NAHS officers had to arrive half an hour before lunch. They set up the judges’ table and put out the standees made by NAHS members the month leading up to the contest.

Cockerham-Lewis, whose favorite holiday is Halloween, hopes that the tradition of the contest only grows. She believes that it’s a fun way to encourage costumes and enjoy the holiday together.

“It was great to see our community come together and celebrate the creativity we have here, especially as an art school,” Cockerham-Lewis said. “I think the costumes were extra good this year, and I was proud of all of our contestants for going for it.”

Both she and Fiedler thought enthusiasm was in the air this year. Fiedler, who gave every participant their numbers for judging, was able to see all the costumes up close. They were excited to be able to interact with everyone.

“There were more people than I’ve ever seen participate, over 60. The decorations, trophies, and overall energy were better than I could have hoped for,” Fiedler said. “I think that even if it was a bit hectic leading up, the whole thing still went great on the day of the actual event. We were able to get a fun set of judges, everyone really rallied together and worked hard, and it showed.”

Caption by Carlo Hinsdale. Photo by Zanna Allen.

CHALLENGE THIS: Seniors Emily Piper and Sophia Manos dressed up as two of the main characters from the movie “Challengers,” Art Donaldson and Patrick Zweig. In the movie, Zweig wears an iconic shirt reading, “I Told Ya,” while Donaldson wears a bright red polo. Both characters often carry tennis rackets due to the movie being based on a tennis star’s career.

Piper, dressed as Zweig, said the movie was a favorite between her and Manos, and it led to them choosing the costume.

“We went shopping together and got the costume,” Piper said. “We decided to do the costume because we watched the movie together and really enjoyed it.”

Caption by Arwen Pelletier. Photo by Zanna Allen.

FRIGHTFULLY FABULOUS: Senior Joshua Villarreal strikes a pose from the sidelines of the McCallum costume contest this Halloween. His costume this year was Angie Yonaga from “Danganronpa,” which he ordered from an online cosplay store.

“Angie Yonaga is in the third game, and I like her character because she’s more of an antagonist, and I think that makes her more interesting,” Villarreal said. “I also thought her outfit would be cute to dress up in.”

Although he dressed up for it, Villarreal didn’t enter the contest. Instead, he enjoyed the creative costumes and getting to support his friends from the audience.

“I prefer watching the costume contest because I love seeing what everyone dressed up as,” Villareal said. “I feel like you don’t get the same experience if you’re in the contest.”

A few costumes stood out specifically to Villarreal, including the kitsune costume done by another student.

“I think that the person who dressed up as a kitsune’s costume was beautiful,” Villarreal said, “I wish they could have won something, but it’s okay, they did a great job even if they didn’t win.”

Villareal enjoyed watching others dress up in their costumes and seeing the decorations set up by the Art Society. He was also glad he got to spend his lunch on Halloween immersed in the spirit of the season.

“I think that the awards and decorations were super cute, Art Society did a great job making the place feel festive and spooky,” Villarreal said.

In Villareal’s eyes, McCallum’s wide array of on-campus activities allows him to express his and others’ artistic talents and abilities.

“I think the costume contest shows how interesting McCallum is and is able to really highlight the creativity and artistic talent we have at our school,” Villarreal said.

Caption and photo by Zanna Allen.

HISTORY TO HALLOWEEN: McCallum teachers Clifford Stanchos, Eric Wydeven, Ann Marquez and Ashley Friedman judge the Halloween costumes at the Halloween costume contest.

For Friedman, a history teacher at McCallum, watching the contest was a first, and being a part of it was even more of a new experience.

“I’m glad I got to be a part of it because I haven’t gotten a chance to see it for myself since I’ve been here,” Friedman said, “Being a judge was really cool.”

After judging the contest, Friedman was impressed with the homemade aspect of the costumes.

“One of the questions we would ask was ‘did you make this’ and most of the time they would say yes,” Friedman said, “There were so many homemade costumes that I was amazed by.”

While Friedman loved the costumes, the crowd was another aspect of the contest that made it a good experience.

“I loved how people came out to support their friends and were really energetic and it felt really fun,” said Friedman.

Caption by Magnolia Smith. Photo by Zanna Allen.

VOTE FOR PEDRO: Sophomore Luling Kendziorski stands with Vivian Garcia at the 2025 Halloween costume contest, dressed as Napoleon and Pedro from “Napoleon Dynamite.” After watching the movie together last year in science. Kendziorski knew that they wanted to make the characters into their Halloween costumes.

“I loved watching and laughing at that movie,” Kendiorski said. “We came up with the idea then, and planned on wearing it to school so other people could see.”

After seeing their costume come together, Kendzrioski and Garcia could already tell they stood out from their competition, motivating them to enter the costume contest.

“Not many people had dressed up to school,” Kendziorski said. “I just thought, ‘Why not?’ and I ended up having so much fun [in the contest].”

On Halloween night, Kendziorski changed her costume to a statue with another friend being Medusa.

“I loved our Napoleon Dynamite costumes,” Kendiorski said. “But my favorite part was seeing everything [the other costumes] else, like the traffic wizard. Halloween is so fun to me because I love eating candy, but also coming up with fun ideas with my friends. I’m so sad it’s over.”

Caption by Sylvia Hurtado. Photo by Zanna Allen.

SPIRIT OF THE FOX: Last Friday, freshman Sabine English brought a piece of Japanese mythology to the halloween contest, dressing up as a kitsune – a legendary fox spirit known for its multiple tails and mischievous behavior.

“I made the mask and everything,” English said. “Kitsune are Japanese folkloric creatures with multiple tails and they even go as far as eating people.”

English’s costume came together with the help of her family, her creativity and resourcefulness. She borrowed pieces from her aunt, who had previously worn the kimono for a Renaissance fair, and reimagined them for her Halloween costume. However, the mask she wore was entirely her own work.

“I painted it and added all the decorations and everything. I love the way it turned out,” English said. “It took me about three days to make it, it was definitely a long process, but it was worth it.”

Her inspiration for the look came from a mix of stories she had heard and nostalgia. In her childhood she had gone to the library and remembered reading Japanese folklore books and thought Halloween would be the perfect opportunity to bring these characters to life.

“We used to read folklore books when I was younger from the library,” English said. “But mostly, I just thought I have the stuff for it – why don’t I just do this for Halloween?”

During the contest, English expressed that she enjoyed being able to see everyone else’s costumes and celebrate Halloween along with her peers.

“I wasn’t nervous going up,” said English. “I was honestly having a lot of fun, and I loved seeing everyone’s costumes and how creative everyone was.”

Caption by Isa Truan. Photo by Harriet Zettner.

PERFORMATIVE: Junior Flynn Cloyes dresses as a performative male at the annual Halloween costume contest. Although Cloyes did not participate in the contest in the past, he said he had a good time. According to Cloyes, the best part about the holiday is getting to hang with friends and connect with others.

“Halloween is one of my top five holidays, it’s a great time to have fun with friends and family, connect with others, dress up and get some free candy,” Cloyes said. “Plus it holds a lot of good memories for me that I can look back upon fondly.”

While Cloyes was only joking about dressing up as the concept of a performative male at first, the idea soon became a reality. Cloyes’s favorite part about the contest was the understanding from the crowd of his costume.

“My favorite part of the contest was that the crowd seemed to understand what I was and liked it,” Cloyes said. “[I got] the admiration and hearts of many fans in the audience.”

Cloyes believes he will participate in the contest again if equipped with a good costume idea.

Caption by Riley Pita. Photo by Zanna Allen.