SLAS Times 2018/2019 Fall 2018 | Page 30

Halloween at Shanghai Livingston American School by Eric Park with Photos by Robert van West H alloween is celebrated on the night of October 31, which is the eve of All Saint’s Day. On this day, many peo- ple dress up in costumes and go to different houses to get treats and candy. Halloween originally came from the an- cient Celtic festival called Samhain. The tradition of wearing scary costumes like ghosts, zombies and vam- pires comes from the Pagans. They believed that dead spir- its get power to return to the living world to damage crops and spread diseases. The costumes are worn to scare off dead spirits from damag- ing things in the living world. On October 31, staff and students were able to wear costumes and celebrate Hal- loween at school. Different games were provided on the school field for younger stu- dents to enjoy under the su- pervision of upper grade stu- dents. There were varieties of games like ghost bowling, musical chairs, ball throw- ing, and more. Upper grade students had the chance to interact with younger stu- dents to give them joy and guidance. Andrew Park was working on the ghost bowling section and he said “It was hard to work the full four hours with younger students, but I felt proud and happy when I saw little kids having fun.” Many students are looking forward to having many other chanc- es to help and interact with younger students. Students, parents, and teach- ers came to SLAS Halloween festival with creative and scary costumes. Our school rewards students in cos- tume by providing commu- nity service time and giving prizes. Halloween festival is the chance to show off and express individual creativity and identity. Our school en- courages all people to come to the festival in costume.