Dist. 204 sees little change in Halloween

[slp]

we4 said:

I just came from the White Eagle Halloween Parade. I am so glad Ron Zeman, Principal, continued with the parade and parties to follow. I did see a few children that seemed not to be dressed up, but they walked in the parade and seemed to have fun. I do not know the percentage of kids that do not/not allowed to participate. Mr. Zeman did send a note home at the beginning of school stating White Eagle will have the Halloween parade and parties this year and asked for feedback. All the feedback was positive about keeping Halloween.

I think I will send an email as soon as I post this thanking him for letting kids a little fun.

I have the same feelings about how White Eagle Elementary handled the 'Halloween issue'. We filled out a questionnaire asking our opinion on what should and should not be continued at the school and we could not be happier to see that traditions are continuing.

[chicoryowl]

eagledad said:

archwinsome said:

The way it was explained to me (by someone who's family does not celebrate anything, including birthdays, due to religious reasons) was that it would upset their child to see other children celebrating. Honestly, that's how they look at it. Of course, my response back was "Well, if that child's parents didn't forbid the child from celebrating in the first place, there wouldn't be any problem".

The conversation stopped at that point.

So to paraphrase, seeing other people happy makes them unhappy, so they want to make everyone unhappy to remove that. Misery loves company type of thing I suppose.

Boy that must be a really sucky life - I'd hate to be their kids. I can see how this attitude would genereally permeate into constant resentment for the celebrations of others (no matter what they are). Oh well, to each their own. If you want to be miserable that's your right, just don't impose it on me.

Actually, I took it to mean that these people insist that others celebrate the holiday in the same manner that they do.

[Arch]

First doorbell ring at 4:55... and so, it begins...

[justvote]

I never thought I'd say this as I was fairly upset when they took Halloween out of the school and made it a PTA evening event a couple of years ago, but I'm very happy with our situation. The night time event is a heck of a alot more fun than the daytime event ever was. It's a 2-3 hour family event with games, crafts, a DJ, trick or treating, and a haunted house. And yes, we still have the "traditional" costume parade. Our principal even came with her small son dressed in costume.

Contrast that with a school day party that starts about 2:45 pm. The kids rush to get their costumes on. They parade around the school and come inside and have a snack. If there's time, they might play a game or two. The entire party is done in less than 45 minutes.

My kids loved the evening event.

[gatordog]

Thanks, justvote, for great description of your evening party. I bet it was really fun. The evening parties we have had at our ES have been fun also for those in attendance. And our PTA does a phenomenal job making it all happen, much enthusiastic and dedicated effort.

I am starting with premise that ES age kids love the fun of this time of year, and also they love celebrating with their classmates. Look no further than the kids last night, the ES in school parades, and the ES evening events for proof.

But here is something to consider....the evening parties are less inclusive . Even though you and I got to attend the evening parties and have fun, think of how many students were unable to participate and missed out.

Things to consider:
-Families with work schedules at night cant drive and/or be with their kids as required. The Georgetown principle mentioned this, as a reason for their going with daytime party

-Families with kids at other schools. The evening events will conflict with MS and HS evening events, I bet its almost unavoidable. I personally know one evening event conflicted with a band concert, another one with a sporting event. Families cannot be two places at once. If you have MS or HS students in same family, it can be hard to go to the ES evening event, or you miss out on something else you wanted to do.

-At our ES, one has to pay nominal amount for each game you play, going through spook house, drinks, and snacks. For me this usually comes out to $5 or even $10 per kid. I understand financial support is required (such as PTA funds, donations). But by making it any cost to a family by definition makes it less inclusive. This surely prevents some kids from being about to participate, even if they could come. Coming up with an extra $20 towards end of a month is not always trivial for many families.

-I guess I am kind of making a joke with this one (but not really ...), with the crowds we always have at parties, I submit that long lines are "not inclusive" . With the in class parties, a student gets better chance to participate in the games I believe.

-Finally, a social point. I have been to most (not all) of the 5 evening parties our school has. I have seen it with both my ES age children. When they go to these big evening parties....its not really a class bonding activity, where they get to know their class mates better, see class mates in different light, deepen a friendship. They end up running around with 3 or 4 of their already good friends, and not paying too much attention to anybody else. I am not saying thats wrong. But maybe a school sponsored event should have a broader goal of also creating "class bonding and spirit" among the class mates. You dont get that as much in evening event.
(To my ES daughter's credit....there was somebody I didnt recognize in her group, she told me oh thats so-and-so the new girl. So her and her friends made a good welcoming use of our party, good for them)

So, evening parties definitely have pluses, no doubt. But their are trade-offs, too. That is life! But to me....I think its more fun to have 99% participation with in school party, as opposed to (for various reasons) <50% (my guess) participation at night. Yes, its a judgement to be made.

[title1parent]

I agree GD, there are trade-offs. I usually volunteered at the event because we always ran low on volunteers. I barely saw my child at the Monster Bash. And you are correct, the lines were extremely long, especially for the Haunted House.

So I enjoyed the smaller party where I could actually watch my child have some fun.

Oh and BTW, my mistake...it has been 6 years w/o a Halloween party/parade at Gombert.

[justvote]

gatordog said:

Thanks, justvote, for great description of your evening party. I bet it was really fun. The evening parties we have had at our ES have been fun also for those in attendance. And our PTA does a phenomenal job making it all happen, much enthusiastic and dedicated effort.

I am starting with premise that ES age kids love the fun of this time of year, and also they love celebrating with their classmates. Look no further than the kids last night, the ES in school parades, and the ES evening events for proof.

But here is something to consider....the evening parties are less inclusive . Even though you and I got to attend the evening parties and have fun, think of how many students were unable to participate and missed out.

Things to consider:
-Families with work schedules at night cant drive and/or be with their kids as required. The Georgetown principle mentioned this, as a reason for their going with daytime party

-Families with kids at other schools. The evening events will conflict with MS and HS evening events, I bet its almost unavoidable. I personally know one evening event conflicted with a band concert, another one with a sporting event. Families cannot be two places at once. If you have MS or HS students in same family, it can be hard to go to the ES evening event, or you miss out on something else you wanted to do.

-At our ES, one has to pay nominal amount for each game you play, going through spook house, drinks, and snacks. For me this usually comes out to $5 or even $10 per kid. I understand financial support is required (such as PTA funds, donations). But by making it any cost to a family by definition makes it less inclusive. This surely prevents some kids from being about to participate, even if they could come. Coming up with an extra $20 towards end of a month is not always trivial for many families.

-I guess I am kind of making a joke with this one (but not really ...), with the crowds we always have at parties, I submit that long lines are "not inclusive" . With the in class parties, a student gets better chance to participate in the games I believe.

-Finally, a social point. I have been to most (not all) of the 5 evening parties our school has. I have seen it with both my ES age children. When they go to these big evening parties....its not really a class bonding activity, where they get to know their class mates better, see class mates in different light, deepen a friendship. They end up running around with 3 or 4 of their already good friends, and not paying too much attention to anybody else. I am not saying thats wrong. But maybe a school sponsored event should have a broader goal of also creating "class bonding and spirit" among the class mates. You dont get that as much in evening event.
(To my ES daughter's credit....there was somebody I didnt recognize in her group, she told me oh thats so-and-so the new girl. So her and her friends made a good welcoming use of our party, good for them)

So, evening parties definitely have pluses, no doubt. But their are trade-offs, too. That is life! But to me....I think its more fun to have 99% participation with in school party, as opposed to (for various reasons) <50% (my guess) participation at night. Yes, its a judgement to be made.

All very good points. It is a trade off, no doubt out about it. The one point about the cost doesn't apply to our school as everything is free (except concessions). Even the candy was donated for the trick or treating (by the parents).