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 alloween is an exciting time for kids because it means “trick or treating” and lots of free candy. What makes it even more exciting for kids (and a lot of adults) is that it also means dressing up in costume for the occasion. In fact, some IHMS teachers are just as excited as the students to wear a costume to school on Halloween. And why not? Most people like the idea of changing their persona once a year with a creative Halloween costume. |
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| A few simple but very effective costumes |
| alloween fell on a Wednesday this year, so IHMS celebrated Wednesday, October 31, 2018 with a N.U.T. day (“No Uniform Today”). Everyone was encouraged to attend school dressed in costume, and the more colourful and creative the outfit, the better! |
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| Students wearing some very colourful costumes |
 tudents were free to wear almost anything they wanted as long as it didn’t portray anything scary, evil, or inappropriate. Anyone who either had a scary costume or who preferred not to wear a costume at all were asked to at least dress in orange and black. None of the students did this because everyone already had a costume ready for trick or treating that evening. |
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| Students wearing their costumes outside in the playground before the beginning of the school day |
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| ome of the costumes were purchased from stores, but a lot were apparently home-made. IHMS has some very creative parents because the home-made costumes were by far funnier and more creative than the store bought costumes, and it was obvious that a lot of effort went into their design and manufacture. |
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| A few examples of very creative food-themed costumes |
 ince everyone was eager to show off their outfits, it’s been a yearly tradition at IHMS for students to parade their Halloween costumes in front of everyone else in the school. This is done in the form of a procession through each of the classes from Kindergarten all the way up to grade 8. In this way, everyone in the school can show off what they have, and at the same time they can see what everyone else is wearing. |
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| Students parading through the classrooms in their Halloween costumes |
 he procession began with Mrs. Paulic and her Kindergarten students parading through the grade 1 classroom. As both grades checked each other out, the grade 1’s followed the Kindergarten students into the grade 2 classroom. The grade 2’s then followed the line into the grade 3 classroom, and so on. This continued all the way to the grade 8 classroom, and finally back down into the gym where everyone gathered for a short assembly. |
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| The student processed through the downstairs hallway, up the front stairs, through the upstairs hallway, and then back down to the gym |
 he assembly was relatively brief this year – students didn’t participate in the usual “gym extravaganza” of Halloween activities as in past years. Instead, Mr. Picklyk spoke for a few minutes about the different types of costumes, Anton A, the student council president, told a few Halloween jokes, and the students watched a short Halloween safety video. |
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| Mr, Picklyk (top photo) and Anton A. (bottom photo) |
| he assembly ended with Mr. Picklyk choosing a few students from the higher grades to perform a short improvised skit on an old Ukrainian tradition. It turns out that an eligible young lady can turn down a marriage proposal by giving her would-be suitor … a pumpkin! By giving the young man a pumpkin, the girl is saying: “No thank you. I think I can do better”.So, parents with attractive daughters of marrying age usually make sure they have plenty of pumpkins on hand! |
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| Students participating in a skit about a Ukrainian tradition. The tradition involves a pumpkin and a denied marriage proposal. |
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he students were then dismissed back to their classrooms. Before leaving, they were told that the grade 8’s would be visiting each classroom with a variety of Halloween activities for them to play. As the students left the gym, they were given a small bag of potato chips to have later in the day during their recess break.. |
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| Students in the gym during the Halloween assembly |
 nother Halloween tradition at IHMS is for the staff to dress up in identical costumes. This has been a tradition for the past 25 years, and was never planned to continue beyond the first year. But the idea became like the Energizer Bunny – it just kept on going, and going, and going. |
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| Some of the teachers in the gym during the assembly wearing identical costumes |
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 or this 25th anniversary year, the staff dressed up as characters from the animated Pixar movie “The Incredibles”. This information, which rivalled the “Manhatten Project” in its secrecy, was not revealed to the students until staff members wore their costumes to school on October 31st. Most staff members wore black pants and a red shirt with an “Incredibles” logo attached to their shirt. Some staff members also wore a small black face mask. Some wore even more! |
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| Matthew S., a grade 2 student, had the same costume idea as the teachers! |
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| The same skeleton guy outside in the morning and later on inside the school |
| he students had a lot of fun coming to school dressed up for Halloween. It gave them the opportunity to wear their costume twice – once during the day and again later that evening. There are a few other N.U.T. days spread throughout the school year, but most students agree that Halloween is the N.U.T. day they enjoy the most. |
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