Huskies Embrace the Magic of Halloween
Ebeth Kline
Elizabeth Kline (goes by Ebeth), a senior at Washington High School, has loved dressing up for Halloween ever since she was a toddler. To Ebeth, Halloween isn’t just about the delicious candy. It’s about having a stress-free time where everyone can come together and have fun in cool costumes. Her love for costumes started with her family, who made it their tradition to make their own, rather than buying them. Over the years, Ebeth’s costumes have gone from simple animals to video game characters and more. Her favorite creation is Psyduck (from Pokémon), which she wore last year. “Everyone loves a big fluffy duck,” she laughs. “It’s so universal because even the parents that didn’t know what a Pokemon was, still knew I was a duck.” She also adds that planning is the hardest part and that it requires a lot of work. Her Psyduck costume from last year collapsed because of how she cut the foam, but by using an engineering trick with arches to support it like a bridge, she was able to save the costume. Outside of school, Ebeth has participated in various Halloween events. Last year, she went to a Comic Con and won first place in one of the costume contests. This year, she plans to bring back her iconic Psyduck costume with a few improvements. Psyduck is “too iconic at this point,’’ she jokes. Ebeth’s passion for Halloween also extends beyond her costumes—she wants the whole school to join in on dressing up. “Anytime I’m in a class and someone’s not wearing a costume, I’m just like, come on, wear a pumpkin t-shirt, do something!” she says. “Halloween is a chance for everyone to have some cheer for absolutely no reason.” As October 31 approaches, Ebeth hopes that more people decide to dress up and join in on all the fun.
Mr. Hagmann
Mr. Hagmann is an English teacher at Washington for 9th and 10th grade students, and he loves Halloween. All year long, Hagmann’s classroom is stuffed with Halloween banners and decorative posters. Interestingly, despite his love of all things Halloween, Mr. Hagmann stopped trick-or-treating at the ripe age of 8. These days, he accompanies his daughters while they trick or treat, sets up a “Halloween tree” and decorates his driveway as a pit stop for tired trick-or-treaters. “I set up my driveway, we play a movie, we set up chairs and blankets, a little bonfire sort of thing going on and people that are just in the neighborhood can sit,” says Hagmann. Hagmann also has a very interesting Halloween tradition. He buys costumes for his children and says to them, “We got the costume, but the Great Pumpkin came and picked it up, and he’s gonna bring it back on Halloween.” On Halloween he places the costumes underneath the Halloween tree with a trick-or-treat bag next to it. Hagmann does this during Halloween because he’s, “trying to make it a little bit more fun.” Hagmann also tries his best to get his students hyped for Halloween. He analyzes texts written by Edgar Allan Poe during October, And on Halloween, Hagmann hands out candy and his class watches a Halloween themed movie. Hagmann believes that a person can trick-or-treat at any age as long as they’re respectful. He also declares that, “If I get a high schooler that’s showing up on halloween night, I’m loading them up with candy.” Hagmann is ready for this year’s Halloween and if any high school students are planning to go trick or treating, hit up Mr. Hagmann’s house first.
Ruchi Mahale
Ruchi Mahale, a sophomore at Washington High School, sees Halloween as a fun holiday where she can dress up as whatever she wants. In the past few years, she’s been trying to find costumes that are more unique and scary. “Last year, I was some kind of clown, but the year before that, I was Coraline,” she says. “I just love doing the more scary Halloween costumes.” Initially she mentioned that “a cat or witch” was her usual go-to costume. This year particularly, Ruchi is excited about others seeing her costume. She’s decided on dressing up as the main character from the movie Gone Girl. Her costume will be from the scene where the character is found covered in blood. She will be including the missing Amy poster, to make the costume more recognizable. Ruchi almost always makes her costumes herself, incorporating creative makeup and clothing that she already owns. “My mom hates spending money, and it’s just cheaper to do it that way,” she admits. During Halloween time Ruchi also volunteers at the local Haunted House at Fremont Hub, an event that she’s passionate about. She looks forward to seeing her friends’ costumes, getting a lot of candy, and trick-or-treating with her friends this year. “I hope everyone has a good Halloween,” she says. With her Gone Girl costume almost ready to go, Ruchi is excited to make a big impression with her costume once again.
Ms. Bragagnolo
People have a vast number of reasons to love Halloween: the dressing up in cool costumes, the delicious candy, the scary movies. For WHS English teacher Ms. Bragagnolo her love for Halloween came from her mother. She described how the holiday was really big in her family, and how a huge part of her early Halloweens was her mother taking her trick or treating all around their neighborhood: “My mom made our costumes every year so that was a huge thing.” Just like many people, Ms. Bragagnolo’s favorite part of Halloween is dressing up. She loves going all out and coming up with fun and creative costumes for herself as well as seeing what other people dress up as. “Some people get, like, ridiculously creative with their costumes, so that’s always fun, too,” she says. She fondly remembers costume competitions from her time in junior high: “One year, a kid was really into it. He dressed as a Shaolin monk and shaved his whole head. He did not talk for the whole day. Unfortunately, that kid did not win the contest even with his commitment and his shaved head. But my friend won as a washing machine, so that’s pretty great.”
One of her favorite costumes she did in the past was Xena from Xena: Warrior Princess, who was a huge female figure in pop culture during the 90’s. Another one of her favorite costumes was Vella McKelley from the musical Chicago. “I had the whole flapper outfit for it,” she says. “I had the wig. I had all of that stuff. So that was probably one of my favorites, too.” This year she’s planning to do a really fun costume that she hopes will surprise her students: “It’s a surprise…I’ll just say it should be a group costume, but I’m going solo.” Another one of her favorite halloween traditions was eating candy. “As a kid, candy is, like, a huge incentive for loving the holiday,” she says. She continues the tradition by passing out candy to all her students as they walk into class on Halloween. Some of her all time favorite candies are traditional candy corn and butterfingers. In addition to dressing up, Ms. Bragagnolo enjoys decorating her classroom with lots of spooky Halloween themed decorations. Every week leading up to Halloween she puts up new decorations, so there’s always something new in her classroom. If you peek into her classroom you’re sure to see lights hanging all around the room, hanging skeletons, jack-o-lanterns, and spiderwebs adding to the spooky atmosphere. For Ms. Bragagnolo, Halloween is also an opportunity to incorporate her love of Disney through movies. “I don’t like horror, so for Halloween movies I love Halloween Town, the Disney movie,” she says. Through her creative costumes, spooky decorations, and delicious candy Ms. Bragagnolo reminds us of the magic that comes from embracing the Halloween spirit and celebrating with passion.
Adam Tesler
While many people lose their childhood love for Halloween in their teens due to peer pressure and the stress of life, Adam Tesler, a Fremont resident, has continued to celebrate the holiday with the same enthusiasm into adulthood. When asked about where his love of the holiday came from, he answered, “The thrill of being scared by horror movies when I was a child and seeing that same joy in my children and that of other children.” If you pass by his house during the month of October you’re sure to see amazing and spooky decorations. From gravestones and animatronics on the lawn to lights and spider webs hanging from the roof, his house is a perfect example of the Halloween spirit. One of Mr. Teslers’ favorite parts of Halloween is scaring people with costumes and decorations. “I love the joy from kids looking at the decorations of the house and the thank you’s from the parents when I scare their children,” he says. Every year on Halloween night he and his family dress up in incredible costumes, and when he’s not trick or treating with his daughter, he’s handing out candy. All of the kids in their neighborhood know their house as the one that hands out lots of candy with adults dressed up in cool costumes. A local, Allison Jewell, said “I went to their house every year when I went trick or treating! They always have great candy.” Last year he dressed up as Ken from the Barbie movie while his wife, Amber Tesler, dressed as a skeleton and they took their daughter trick or treating with a few neighborhood kids. He has all kinds of interesting stories from past Halloweens, but one of the funniest ones happened recently. Last year, after his daughter got home from trick or treating with her friends, a person in a creepy costume came to their door. He was acting super creepy, but Adam just thought it was funny and got everyone to get a photo with him. “I was really freaked out, but he thought it was funny, then everyone kinda calmed down after and we all had fun,” said Grace Spivey, one of his daughter’s friends who was there that night. All of this is a great example of his love of the Halloween spirits, and tricks as well as treats.
Maanvizhi Muthuezhilan
Maanvizhi Muthuezhilan is a freshman at Washington High School who greatly enjoys Halloween. She grew up in Fremont for her entire life and even has a twin sister who is a minute younger than her! Between her busy schedule of playing the baritone saxophone in the school band and reading countless novels, Muthuezhilan finds time to fantasize about receiving loads and loads of candy on Halloween. While she is odd for liking Butterfingers, her reasons for enjoying Halloween certainly are not. “I’m looking forward to the candy, dressing up and spending time with my friends,” says Muthuezhilan. After dressing up as a vampire three years in a row, Muthuezhilan vowed to do something different. She says she’s going to think about her costume this year and that she likes to make decisions spontaneously. She did concede that she will be attempting her very best to look creepy. She thinks that people should not stop trick-or-treating until they feel it’s time to let go. She also declared to never stop trick-or-treating until she is put in her grave. Muthuezhilan advises that people who feel awkward trick-or-treating should “dress up and scare the kids that come to your house.” Maanvizhi is excited for this year’s Halloween and hopes everyone else can enjoy it the same way she does.
Lily Spivey is a junior at Washington High School and has lived in Fremont her whole life. This is her first year working on The Hatchet and she hopes to cover current events, pop culture, and student life. Lily spends most of her free time reading, listening to music, and hanging out with friends. She’s also been on the varsity swim and water polo teams since her freshman year. In the future, she hopes to become a pediatrician and have a house near the coast.
Nikita Murugesan is a freshman at Washington High School. She was born and raised here, in Fremont.This is her first year at the Hatchet and she is interested in covering topics like important things happening in our school, community and world. Nikita enjoys reading books and mangas.When she is not reading, she enjoys hanging out with her friends, playing badminton, teaching indian martial art’s, skateboarding and rollerblading. For this year she plans to get better at playing the trombone. She is unsure of which major she wants to pursue but she wants to attend a UC college.
Isha Kannan is currently a sophomore at Washington High School. She was born in Santa Clara, but has been living in Fremont since she was four. This is her first year with The Hatchet and she is excited to cover interesting stories about student life and important world events. Beyond writing, Isha loves baking, going to debate tournaments, reading, singing, and traveling to different places. In the future she hopes to go to university, but is undecided as to what she wants to major in.