Students join forces in festive spirit of fright
‘Tis the season for spooks and scares as the annual West haunted house brought the fear with new attractions and terrifying twists and turns. Held on Thursday, October 27 in the small gym, the event has become a tradition that students line up for annually. Students in the Special Education program work together with Global Academy, Leadership, and Connected to set up different scares. Over 200 individuals pool their efforts to collectively give Wildcat Nation a cardiac ride of the first order.
Special Education teacher Stephanie Polak loves the collaborative nature of the program.
“I love watching the school come together from all different areas to create an event that everyone seems to really enjoy and that people have fun with,” she said. “It’s a fun activity, and I feel like there’s a lot of time for the kids to relax and just have a good time creating it.”
For Polak, this terrifying event stands out as the best part of the year.
“It's my absolute favorite day,” she said. “I love dressing up, I love hearing the scares and the screams, I love the smiles on the faces, and I just love seeing the final project.”
Leadership teacher Elizabeth Podvin’s students work on putting together part of the haunted house every year. This year, they designed a haunted dollhouse.
“My favorite part has to be collaborating with the other classes and scaring the kids,” she said. “It’s a fun project we do as a class.”
The other participating group, Global, started generating ideas in mid-September and voted to set up a haunted graveyard. For Global teacher William Brydon, the event can be nerve-wracking, but the work put into it makes the spooks worth it.
“I’m pretty terrified of Halloween costumes in general,” he said. “I don't like masks, so for me going through it is a little stressful. But I really like how the student body came together for the haunted house and to experience something that a lot of people put a lot of passion into.”
For students, the annual haunted house is both an exciting experience and a chance to miss a bit of instructional time for some Halloween fun.
“I can get out of class and go see something that’s not too scary, but it’s fun to see it,” sophomore Tia Brewer said.
Sophomore Addison Vaughan appreciates the ability to see what the different groups are capable of.
“I like supporting the efforts put into it, especially being able to support the special needs kids,” she said.
For sophomore Andrew Steffen, it was a free alternative to other, more expensive haunted houses.
“It’s the standard free school haunted house,” he said. “It’s mildly scary, but I still liked going through it.”
Vaughan enjoyed how real the scare actors were trying to be, especially when interacting with the attendees.
“The whole thing is a little scary, but it freaked me out when people grabbed my feet,” she said.
Some attendees are still haunted by past experiences. Brewer specifically remembers details from last year's haunted house.
“I remember there being a cult last year,” she said. “They sang ‘Ring Around the Rosie’ and screamed; it freaked a lot of people out.”
Junior Anna Krupp, who has enjoyed the haunted house the past two years, appreciates the continuous collaboration throughout the years.
“I did enjoy it last year because it was both scary and fun,” she said. “It was cool to see all the different parts and how everyone contributed to it.”
For students working on the event this year, it provided a great chance to get to know others and work as a team.
“It is a good team building opportunity to work with the students in my class as well as collaborating with other classes to put on the haunted house,” sophomore Peyton Folske said.
Krupp expected the spook factor to be higher this year.
“I think it was a little scarier this year,” she said. “People always try to top expectations.”
For Brydon, the event is essential, despite his own personal phobias.
“You get to experience the overall celebration of everybody that’s a part of it and it’s a really cool experience overall,” he said. “You don’t want to miss it.”
By Ashley Schumann
Oshkosh West Index Volume 119 Issue II
October 31 2022