By Meghan Gustin, Contributing Reporter
November 9, 2023
ROCKLAND- Rockland High School students kicked off the Halloween weekend with the annual Project Pumpkin.
Trick-or-treaters from all around Rockland and surrounding towns gathered at Rockland High School on October 28 to parade down the hallways and collect candy.
Project Pumpkin is typically run by Rockland’s Student Council, specifically the Student Services Committee. This committee is run by Chair Josh Campoverde and Co-Chair Regan Glennon, who took on this year’s event. However, unlike previous years, the Student Council also had help from Rockland’s National Honor Society and Women’s Empowerment Club.
The event ran from 2 to 4:30 p.m, and featured high school students stationed at different tables with themes of their choosing. In particular, there were Jungle, Taylor Swift, Superhero, Mario Kart, and many Disney themes. Students decorated their tables and dressed up as they gave away candy to children passing by.
Trick-or-treating wasn’t the only part of this event. Many dared to make their way down the Haunted Hallway, which presented three levels of scares. Students spent many hours Friday afternoon and Saturday morning covering up windows and lights, setting up decorations, and preparing to scare any brave people who walked through.
When asked about the success of the Haunted Hallway, Student Services Committee Chair, junior Josh Campoverde recalled, “The hallway was very busy since there were so many people trying to get in…Even though it was busy the volunteers did a great job at keeping their cool and dealing with the rushes”.
In addition to the Haunted Hallway, RHS’s Chapter of the National Honor Society and Women’s Empowerment Club set up many activities in the middle school gym. There was room to play a round of cornhole, jump around in the bouncy house, get your face painted, take a photo with friends, grab a balloon, color, and make pumpkin magnets.
The Women’s Empowerment Club was glad to be included in this tradition. Co-president, junior Megan Joyce explained, “We wanted to participate to be able to show that we want to become more involved in the school community and also to get more exposure”.
All of the students involved put in a lot of hard work to ensure that this was a fun event for everyone who showed up.
While thinking back on the event, Student Services Co-Chair, junior Regan Glennon, summarized, “I think the event went great! Of course, there will always be things we can improve upon every year but I have received a lot of positive feedback."
Glennon added, “Thanks to the RMS candy drive, all the members of student government who helped out, NHS, and all of our volunteers we ran a pretty successful event this year!”