Students gathered in the lounge to watch their classmates compete in the annual Halloween costume contest and ate free Cinnabons, courtesy of Prefect Council on Oct. 31. Like last year, Halloween-themed movies played throughout the day, along with the new additions of pumpkin decorating and free candy on the quad.
Costume contest, pumpkin decorating activities hosted
Due to the increased number of late starts this year, Halloween happened to fall on a block schedule day, which allowed Prefect Council to hold the celebration during the schoolwide lunch period.
Community Council also took the opportunity to start selling tickets for its drive-in movie, a showing of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” which took place Nov. 7 (A3).
Emery Genga ’21 and Felicity Phelan ’21, who dressed up as Glinda and Elphaba from “Wicked,” won best overall costume. Genga said she originally planned to be Glinda, but after talking to Phelan, they bonded over their shared love for the musical, which prompted them to dress up together.
“[Phelan] did not want to do the lip syncing at first, but I convinced them to, so we made it into a bit of a performance, and I don’t think we would have won if we didn’t,” Genga said. “[Phelan] also said that ‘Wicked’ was their favorite musical, and that they wanted to be the Elphaba to my Glinda. Their costume was pretty easy for them to find, but I kind of had to order mine in separate parts and piece it together, and I was so happy with how it turned out.”
Prefects promote community spirit
Senior Prefect Jaya Nayar ’20 said members of Prefect Council planned the event in an attempt to re-energize the community.
“We just wanted to bring some school spirit to Harvard- Westlake,” Nayar said. “There was a little bit of a downfall with Fanatics Fest, and so we just wanted to get people back up and excited, especially with something like the fires going on.”
Genga said she enjoyed participating in the costume contest, and that to her, it was very representative of the school’s inclusive environment.
“It was just really fun being up there with my best friend, singing our favorite musical and hearing all of the excitement from the crowd,” Genga said. “I really do love the Harvard-Westlake community, and I love that I feel comfortable getting up in front of everyone and just being completely goofy without fear of judgment.”
