Peers in Learning class participates in special Halloween celebration
To interact with students from different schools, the Peers in Learning class went to Basehor-Linwood to celebrate Halloween
October 31, 2017
To celebrate Halloween, the silver day Peers in Learning students dressed up in costumes and went to Basehor-Linwood High School on Monday, October 30. Upon arrival at Basehor-Linwood, students were greeted, given name tags and ushered into the gym where a variety of activities, such as face painting, a photo booth and dancing, were offered.
“The purpose was to create a safe place for the special needs students to go and celebrate Halloween all together with their peers,” junior Trinity Knapp said.
Special education teacher Angela Teeple asked peers like Knapp if they would be willing to accompany the students going.
“My task as a peer was to encourage and help the students whenever I could and to make sure that no students felt left out,” Knapp said.
Not only was the Halloween party fun-filled, according to junior Fatima Hernandez, but it was also an opportunity for students to expand their social skills.
“It was good because the kids got to meet new people and interact with others. [They weren’t] in their bubble of MVHS; [they] got to meet other schools and know there are other schools out there,” Hernandez said. “It’s kind of eye-opening to see there’s different people out there and it’s not just you.”
According to Knapp, the most memorable part of the night was when sophomore Nick Pettigrew “got a face paint of a skeleton and was so happy to go around scaring people.”
Concluding the event, the costume contest winner was announced, as well as the winners of the guessing jars. Junior Zach Dixon was happily surprised when he found out he was one of the winners.
“At first we couldn’t find [Dixon] [but then] he was surprised because there were three jars and he won twice,” Hernandez said. “He was just excited and so he walked up to the DJ and was like ‘That’s me!’”
Overall, the celebration was successful for all who participated.
“I would say [it was great] just seeing the smiles on the kids faces, getting them to know other people, having fun and [being] stress-free,” Hernandez said. “It’s just great to see a smile on someone.”
