Victoria SandoloLimelight Editor

Dressing up for Halloween is a long-standing tradition that should be maintained despite past controversy.

Walking through the hall-ways last Halloween, students saw Greek goddesses, hippies, superheroes, and kids on roller-blades and tricycles. Halloween is the one and only day that allows students the chance to show off their originality. As junior David Quito said, “Letting the students dress up for this holiday always lets me show off my creative and funny side.”

Seniors get a special chance to display their costumes at the end of the day during the Senior Parade. The parade is held in the gymnasium during seventh pe-

riod. At the end of the parade, faculty judges vote for the best costume.

“Dressing up for the Senior Parade is something many up-perclassmen look forward to. It’s a chance to really let the seniors have their moment and it’s a big tradition,” senior Julie Cebo said.

Many students would agree that the seniors are the students who get the most involved since it’s their last Halloween at the Hill. However, dressing up is not only for upperclassmen—even fresh-men are looking forward to Hal-loween. “In my old school [Trinity Catholic High School], I wasn’t al-lowed to dress up, so I’d be pretty upset if they didn’t allow it here. Most of my friends and I are all dressing up and can’t wait to see what everyone else wears,” fresh-

man Steph Thaler said. Although Halloween is sup-

posed to be all fun and games, sometimes disputable costumes cause controversy. In past years,

there have been inappropriate cos-tumes that some have deemed of-fensive. However, according to a poll conducted by The Westword, 81% of students have not been of-fended by costumes they’ve seen on Halloween, while only 19% have been offended.

“You shouldn’t take [Hallow-een costumes] seriously. It’s just a day where people dress for fun. It

really shouldn’t be a big deal,” ju-nior Scully Dumay said.

Principal Ms. Figluizzi said, “Some kids haven’t used good judgment, and if it’s inappropriate

or hurts another student’s feelings they have to change, but I think everything’s meant in jest. In the past I’ve had students dress as me, and I’ve never taken it personally. I just think it’s funny.”

Furthermore, although some students may use bad judgement when choosing their costumes, the rest of the student body shouldn’t have to suffer by not having the

privilege of dressing up.When asked why students are

allowed to dress up, Ms. Figluizzi said, “It’s always been a fun day and a tradition. Both the faculty

and students get into it and it’s nice to see everyone so spirited and happy.”

Allowing students to dress up is the right thing to do. It not only allows students to display their creativity, but it also gives them something to remember once they have graduated. Dressing up on Halloween should forever remain a Westhill tradition.

“Some kids haven’t used good judgment, and if it’s inappropriate or hurts another student’s feelings they have to change, but I think everything’s meant in jest. In the past I’ve had students dress as me, and I’ve never taken it personally.” —Principal Ms. Figluizzi

Should students be allowed to dress up for Halloween in school?The consequences of a costume

Viewpoint10

PROHave you ever been

offended by a Halloween costume you’ve seen at

Westhill?

Poll by Christiana Provenzano and Dixita Viswanath. Out of 200 students polled.

YESNO

19%81%