On Oct. 28, the student council held GHS’s first ever costume day for Halloween. The administration gave students the option to wear costumes to school as long as it followed the school dress codes and were school appropriate. For some students, the most they might have done was wear a jersey or a onesie, while others dressed up as a celebrity, a character, or even wore an inflatable costume.
“I wore a blow up Koala that I bought from Amazon,” senior Ethan Lentsch said. “I was very excited to show off my round blow up body. I thought it would be fun.”
Students were beyond excited to wear costumes. Since this was the first year that costumes were approved, students questioned if future Dragons would have their own costume days..
“This year, I wanted the council to do more,” Student Council president Chuck Sams said. “A part of this aspiration was implementing more school initiatives. To do this, I issued and founded committees to deal with specific activities. One of these was the holiday committee, who unanimously agreed to try a costume day. I think it is a great way to bring our school together for Halloween and definitely believe we should do it for years to come. I was surprised by the amount of people who chose to dress up but also not. I was very pleased by the turnout.”
This year’s turnout was a surprise for some. The Halloween dress-up day had a different effect on the students’ choices on what they wore to school.
“I dressed up as Plum Pudding from Strawberry Shortcake that I got off of Amazon and Shein,” junior Gabby Ochsner said. “I was surprised by the outcome, I thought I would stick out like a sore thumb but I fit right in.”
The Student Council voted on their favorite costumes at their November meeting. They decided on their top four favorites from that day because they wanted to see what everyone’s favorites were.
“The four top costumes from the student council votes are the inflatable Koala Bear (Senior Ethan Lentsch), the Suite of Armor (Senior Philip Matya), Vector (Sophomore Spencer Parkinson) and Freddie Mercury (Senior Chuck Sams),” Student Council sponsor Mrs. Anita O’Neill said.
On the actual day, these four costumes were widely discussed by the student body who determined those costumes were the student body’s favorite. “I dressed up as Freddie Mercury from the ‘Break Free’ music video by Queen,” Sams said. “I chose this costume because it spoke to me. Freddie Mercury wearing that costume, in particular, was absolutely iconic and a turning point in the history of music and drag. I find the stark difference between the hyperfeminine outfit and the masculine face, body, and mustache as great compliments. One wouldn’t expect them to go together so well, but they do.”
This year was the first year that GHS has done costume day. With the great success of costume day, the Student Council is planning to continue this tradition for years to come.