Students fear for the fate of their beloved Halloween celebration, which is approaching in the midst of the pandemic, but school directives are not planning on canceling the event.

Halloween, celebrated in October with the infamous senior entrance, the obstacles courses, and waterslide, is one of the most important traditions at The Columbus School. The institution is aware of the importance students, especially seniors, give to the celebration, which is why directives are discussing alternatives and possible solutions to save Halloween at TCS this year.

“I had a meeting with a group of seniors and they were suggesting to do this celebration later, probably next semester, so instead of canceling it, it’d be a good idea to postpone the event,” Juan David López, the high school principal said.

According to 12th grade student and member of the Halloween student committee, Isabel Jaramillo, students have also proposed having a Halloween celebration only for seniors this October, and possibly repeating the event next semester with the whole school. 

“Per say next year we have a whole school celebration, I think the activities wouldn’t be the same,” said Isabel, “we probably wouldn’t have the senior entrance or the water slide, but we’d still be able to spend the day with our friends.”

Despite there being talks of solutions, directives don’t want to make any rash decisions at the moment, and they are waiting to see how the pandemic evolves. The student input is very significant to the school, but the main priority is the safety of all the members of the community. 

“If there’s something I’ve learned throughout this situation is that it’s uncertain and we have to take each day at a time. We have to prepare…but at the same time we can’t assume anything,” López stated.

Students are not the only ones to give such great importance to this event. School directives, teachers, and staff also give significance to Halloween at TCS. They enjoy dressing up in creative costumes and even participating in some events. After all, this is a tradition that everyone enjoys.

“We’re trying to make the right decisions and keeping in mind that all of these celebrations and traditions are really important and we want to preserve them as much as possible,” López said.

Despite the uncertainty of the situation, students have declared that the school has been absolutely supportive and has been on the constant search for solutions to make this school year the best possible.

“I had no hopes but now I think the school is actually trying to make it special for us and it will be us students who decide if it’ll be an amazing day or not, but I think it will,” said Jaramillo.