While virtual learning has made it difficult to come together as a school and maintain many of Marlborough’s beloved traditions, the work of Dean of Student Life Brett Quimby, along with the student-led president’s council, made this year’s Halloween celebration possible. Each year, Marlborugh celebrates the spirit of Halloween through the tradition of Pumpkin Day. Despite not being together in person to celebrate this year, students were still able to dress up and present their costumes to their classmates and teachers.
The idea for a virtual pumpkin week started with the president’s council, a group composed of the class presidents from each grade. The group came up with the idea while discussing different ways of increasing student engagement and creating a feeling of community.
“At that time it was early to mid-October and I feel like a lot of people were wanting more opportunities to have the casual interactions you have with people outside of your grade or your classes that are challenging right now with zoom, because you don’t necessarily see people in the hallways.” Quimby said.
The council decided that instead of having one costume parade, like on Pumpkin Day, spreading the celebration out over the course of the week with different themes each day would allow students more time to interact with one another. Melodie ‘24 viewed the week as successful in connecting students with the Marlborough community.
“Not only did it bring many students together making costumes it also was a fun thing to look forward to every day at lunch,” Melodie said. “I think everyone had fun making the costumes with what they had at home, editing the costumes virtually and above all getting to meet new people throughout the contest.”
While the event was successful in bringing students together, one of the most challenging aspects when planning the celebration was raising participation.
“It was one of those things where in the end it was fun for the people who did it and that was great. And if someone was in costume for their classes for the rest of their day that was great.” Quimby said.
The themes throughout the week ranged from scary and spooky costumes on Monday to coordinated group costumes on Friday. Mischa ‘25 saw the week as a great opportunity to show how proud she was of her costumes, and she even stayed in character throughout her classes.
“My favorite part about the event was doing the little introduction that I had prepared. On Wednesday, I got to talk in a pirate voice the whole time, and it was really fun. I actually talked in a pirate voice the whole day!” Mischa said.
Ultimately, even with the switch to a virtual celebration, this year’s Pumpkin Week was successful in spreading the spirit of Halloween and bringing students together.
“I felt like during Covid because everyone has been separated that it would be hard to get into the Halloween spirit,” Melodie said. “When I saw this event I immediately signed up because it was a nice way to bring everyone together and really enjoy Halloween.”
