Becton celebrated Halloween on Oct. 31, 2023 and ended the school day with a bang. The annual “Nightmare on Wildcat Way” pep rally was a grand success and a wonderful way to commence the exciting holiday.
Halloween actually originated in the early nineteenth century and was certainly not all about jack-o-lanterns, trick-or-treating and wearing interesting costumes. It began in an ancient Celtic festival called “Samhain” which is a pagan religious celebration. It traditionally welcomes the incoming harvest and celebrations include having large bonfires. Additionally, people would wear scary costumes to terrify visiting spirits and ghosts.
Obviously, everyone is aware of what sorts of delinquency and tom-foolery occurs the night before Halloween. Luckily, some students steered away from such shenanigans and celebrated by attending local “truck-or-treat” festivals and gatherings at police stations throughout Bergen County.
On Halloween day, the wildcats halls were filled with all sorts of scary, whimsical and hilarious costumes. Some faculty members and students participated in the annual costume contest hosted by the student council and organized by advisor, Daniella Polmann. When surveyed, the student body revealed that inflatable costumes such as Becton Alumni Mrs. Brielle Torres’ “Toy Story” Alien costume were very popular. Some fan-favorite costumes of the day were Street Fighters by Mr. Mendelsohn, Mr. Parillo, Ms. O’Driscoll, and Mr. Hoagland, and the Scooby Doo Mystery Gang by Christopher Zawadzki, Dominic Maucione, Brian Battistus, Steel Grabowski, Matthew Bulger, and Antony Szperlak.
To ignite the energy for the night to come, the student council and student coordinatorm Ms. Jessica O’Driscoll, hosted the annual Nightmare on Wildcat Way pep rally. The spooky event was filled with lots of fun games, awesome costumes, funky music choices, and candy! This year, Becton Alumni Michael Cabrera returned to the gymnasium once again to DJ and he did not disappoint! Mr. Mendelsohn commented, “Michael Cabrera is an awesome DJ and person!”
During the pep rally, the winners for the annual costume contest were announced. Scariest costume was won by Nico Ragozzino and Gabriella Krol dressed as Georgie and Pennywise from the horror movie It. The most creative costume award was won by students Brooke Emerson, Demi Dembinski, and Hailey Roseberry as Izzie, Christina, and Meredith from “Grey’s Anatomy” and The English Department & Mr. Dorsey as the board game “Clue”. The funniest costume award was won by students Juan Tamayo and Salvatore Penna as Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy from “Spongebob Squarepants”. Additionally, the funniest teacher costume was tied with Chef Perdomo & Chef Damielo as the board game “Operation”, and Ms. Mackanin and Mr. McGuire as Mr. And Mrs. Potato Head.
The best individual costume category was won by senior and color-guard captain, Alana Marcial, as Maleficent and athletic trainer, Caryn French, dressed as Avenger’s Fat Thor. The best duo category was won by senior students Vanessa Frank and Bernadette Fall as Princess Charlotte and Princess Tiana from “The Princess and the Frog”, and Mrs. Altomonte and Mrs. Savincki as Playing Cards. The best group costume was awarded to students Matt Bulger, Domenic Maucione, Steel Grabowski, Brian Battistus, Anthony Szperlak, and Christopher Zawadzki as the characters from “Scooby Doo”. Their spotlight was shared with teachers Mrs. Lennon, Ms. Calasso, Mr. Malyack, Mr. D’Alia, Mr. Geraghty, and Mr. Lind as “Mario Kart”.
This year’s pep rally activities included the classic Mummy-Wrap Race, Hungry Hungry Jason Voorhees and the newly added Witch’s Race. Although the entire student body cannot participate in the games, people reportedly enjoyed watching the Witch’s Race the most. Hopefully it is kept as an addition for next year’s celebration as well! The pep rally came to a conclusion when two-time pie eating contest winner Doctor Daniel Farina surrendered his title. This year’s pie eating contest winner is Vicente Peralta!
After the last bell rang and everyone gallivanted towards their respective school buses, most students indulged themselves in an all-time favorite Halloween activity: trick-or-treating! Approximately 80% of the school population still enjoys the tradition and scampered through their neighborhoods for candy that night. Overall, the holiday was very pleasant and excited students are eager to see what next year will be like!
