By: Hera Ashraf <[email protected]>

“My friends and I went to several neighborhoods. I think I was dressed up as Thomas the Tank Engine,” sophomore Hannah Lencheck said. Lencheck is one of many students at this school who go trick-or-treating every Halloween.

Every October, Lencheck starts to prepare for Halloween. She said it has become a tradition for her.

“I have been doing it (trick-or-treating) since I was little and so it has become a tradition to go trick-or-treating with friends,” Lencheck said. According to Lencheck, it has also been a tradition for her to create her own costume.

“I get different parts of the costume from different places, such as Goodwill or Party Tree House, and then I put it all together to make a costume. It is hard to find grown-up costumes of something you want to be, and it can be expensive,” Lencheck said.

Nancy Hatch, fashion and textiles teacher, said she thinks that making one’s own costume allows students to be creative.

“I think the biggest benefit of sewing your own Halloween costume is having something original that no one else will be wearing. Also, you can be creative, choose the fabric you want and make it fit specifically to your body,” Hatch said via e-mail.

Sophomore Caroline “Carly” Marshall used to go trick-or-treating with her friends.

“I usually wear a costume. I have made my costume a couple of times, but usually I buy them,” Marshall said.

She said she goes trick-or-treating every year because it has become a tradition.
“I have been trick-or-treating since I was small,” Marshall said. “And who wants to miss free candy?”

Making costumes is not the only part of Lencheck’s Halloween celebrations. Every year, Lencheck and some of her friends get together before trick-or-treating to watch a movie and have dinner.

“It’s something my friends and I do together. We have our own little party before we go out for trick-or-treating. We’ll meet up in someone’s house and change into our costumes there. It’s just such a great time to do something fun with your friends besides just shopping at the mall,” Lencheck said.

Marshall said she agrees. According to her, she goes trick-or-treating to hang out with her friends.

“Halloween is not just for candy. Most of it is just to hang out with friends and make great costumes,” Lencheck said.

Hatch said she thinks making one’s own costume can give a person a better result than a store product. She also said she thinks that students get to wear something unique and different from what everyone else is wearing on that night.

“I personally sewed all the Halloween costumes for my two boys when they were young. Some of the costumes were a clown, a dinosaur, a baseball player, a ninja, a crayon and even a shark,” Hatch said.

Lencheck said she agrees with Hatch.

“When you make your own costumes with your friends or even alone, you get a much more unique costume, and the whole process is much more fun than just buying from a store,” she said.

According to Lencheck, people should go all out if they decide to dress up.

“Having a costume half done looks like you put something up in a couple minutes, and it’s boring” Lencheck said. “When you decide to dress up, dress up like something you like. Maybe you and your friends can all dress up alike. Just put some work into it and go all out. Otherwise, Halloween just isn’t fun.”