Tables full of candy in the courtyard, costume competitions and the senior-planned Haunted House are unique traditions of the annual Halloween celebration organized by the student council. However, due to the Archer campus being in the mandatory evacuation zone of the Getty Fire from Oct. 28 until Oct. 31, no student was on campus on the day of Halloween, causing student council to postpone and modify the tradition. 

The administration worked with Student Council to help plan and schedule the altered Halloween festivities. According to Executive Board member Angelica Gonzalez, the administration “took the voices of the student council into account.” 

“There was definitely a lot of confusion, and we had to practice tolerance for adversity and uncertainty, which is something that we learned on our NOLS courses,” Student Body President Gracie Wilson said. “But at the end of the day, even though there was a lot of uncertainty going around, we knew that everything would turn out all right and we would have a good time.” 

Wilson and her fellow executive board members re-planned the celebration for Nov. 8 when the evacuation zone was lifted. Student Council held games in the courtyard such as “Candy Cornhole” and “Guess the Weight of the Pumpkin.” Wilson noted that in the planning process of the re-scheduled celebration she made sure to “distribute roles” so it was not just the executive board planning.

“It was hectic in the way that we didn’t really know what was going on, but I don’t think we were anxious because we knew it would all turn out fine,” Wilson said. “We had a bunch of FaceTime calls, all of us planning things, organizing and figuring things out.” 

Before the cancellation of school on Halloween, Student Council had planned an elaborate celebration, Executive Board member Madis Kennedy (’21) said. 

“We put a lot of effort in,” Kennedy said shortly after returning to school. “The fact that we missed so much school and we don’t have a lot of time to put into [a] whole big celebration again — we kind of have to reign things in a little bit.” 

Seniors were sad that their Haunted House was cancelled, Executive Board Member Sophie Larablestier said. 

“I have a lot of friends that have been here since sixth grade and literally have been waiting their whole life to do it,” Larbalestier said. “But it’s okay — we have a lot of other fun events in the future.” 

Executive Board Member and junior Madis Kennedy noted that the board had a conference call with the administration team to ensure the executive board was “really updated.” The Executive Board, which consists of Kennedy, Gonzalez, Wilson and Larbalestier, then took further steps to decide what their new plan would be moving forward. 

Although Student Council members were “disappointed” according to tenth grade representative Langdon Janos in the cancellation of the annual and original Halloween festivities, they are “glad” to know that their fellow classmates are “safe.”

“We wanted to let out grade know that we were here for them, and, no matter what, the priority was everyone’s safety,” Janos said. “So even though bringing in candy for spirit points is something that we cared about a lot as [representatives,] we just wanted to let the grade know that first and foremost being safe and having everything together is what’s most important.”