October has begun and that means Halloween is just around the corner. Teachers are beginning to dress up their classrooms. In some classrooms, the decorations are almost like Easter eggs while in others they are plain as day. It is only the beginning of October, but there seem to not be many festive teachers. Many teachers do not have their own classrooms and are hard at work, so I cannot judge them. All I mean to say is that more appreciation needs to be put on the festive spirit that Mrs. Bortz brings.

Starting with Mrs. Lankford, she did not go all out, but I appreciate the touch of fall fun. The orange and yellow wreath brings a warm touch to the room. While I wrote this article I could feel its warm rays motivating me to keep typing. Next to the wreath is a small sign saying “autumn leaves and pumpkins please.” A profound message. Truly it is stating what we all want. Unfortunately, we do not get much autumn in South Carolina. I feel bad that someone might have to break the news that no “autumn leaves” will be coming. We do have a good number of pumpkins, though, and I am looking forward to munching on pumpkin seeds.

Ms. Roop in a similar fashion only has a few scattered decorations throughout the room. She apparently has some fish Halloween decorations, but I have not seen them yet. What piqued my interest was the large black cat statue on display by her front door. It feels very fitting in her classroom. Something about Ms. Roop’s mysterious charm gives her a witch-y vibe. It is very cool. The thing that interested me the most though was not actually the statue. In my third block Marine Science class I noticed the cat’s eyes peering at me as I walked in and throughout the class I could feel the holes it was boring into my back. I gained my freedom from it when we adjourned for lunch, but when I came back I felt more than one pair of eyes. When I turned to check what happened, I was faced with not only the black cat but Spongebob and Squidward. I was scared out of my mind. It was worse than any horror movie I had ever seen. Worse than the Shining, worse than the Thing, and worse than Suspira. My mother had warned me of this day. I knew there was a good reason behind her disallowing me from watching Spongebob as a kid. This had to be it. I felt my life flash in front of my eyes. Spongebob and Squidward were going to kill me right there and then. Had I just suffered through 3 and a half years of Academic Magnet to be killed here? Luckily I was once more saved by the bell. I must have been looking at the dolls for 45 minutes because class was over. So if anyone has the notes for that class please send them my way because I was busy with a near death experience.

Mrs. Bortz is truly the greatest in terms of Halloween decorating. Her classroom is dressed to the nines. I might have to ask her to decorate my home as it is looking a little lackluster right now in comparison (sorry mom I promise your work is adequate). When you first walk up to the classroom you are already greeted by the sight of creepy crawly hands on the door’s window. I can feel them trailing across my back. It gives me the heebeegeebees. When you walk in, the ceiling is covered in pumpkin, and skull, and eyeball lanterns. Try giving a presentation while a giant eyeball is staring at you from across the room. I think that may be where my points were deducted. To make it even more ironic, it was a presentation about being blind. Beside public speaking horrors, the hanging faces in the sky create a wonderful atmosphere to discuss novels and poetry. Hopefully the text is more like a Tell-Tale Heart and not a sappy love poem. It might not work as well with that sort of literature. There is also a poster in the back saying “Mix & Match Pumpkin Patch.” The pumpkins all have different facial features. It makes them a bit unnerving, but honestly they are kind of cute. If that were not enough her windows are decorated as well. The window by her desk has a spiderweb, a spider, and the word “SPOOKY.” On the other window she has the iconic line “Fire burn and cauldron bubble toil & trouble by the pricking of my finger something wicked this way comes.” Maybe they are meant to all be separate. There is also a real creepy lady that kind of freaks me out. I do not know what the girl is doing. She is kind of just reaching out? I do not know what she wants me to do about it. I cannot get her out of the window unfortunately. There is also a snowflake on there. I think it is a bit confused on the current month and location, but I appreciate its presence nonetheless.

Finally we have the beloved Senior Lounge decorated by our wonderful PIE. Besides the usual hauntings of students past, including the left behind sarcophagus, we now have a table filled to the brim with snacks. The only reason I could guess they were put there is for taming the beast that is seniors. I know many of us will be calm for the time being as long as the box of popcorn stays full. My personal favorite are the gummy snacks. We were also blessed with Oreos, pretzels, and M&Ms. The table itself is adorned with skulls and spiderwebs and clip art bats (a very cute one I will say). Obviously PIE did not have to do this, so I am very grateful, and the extra effort put into decorating was heartwarming.

Fall is a busy time for teachers and students alike. I wanted to point out the teachers that put in that extra effort to remind everyone of October festivities. As a student who does not often get to see a change of scenery, it truly brightens my day. Changes do not need to be drastic at all to cause that little extra pep. I love when holiday cheer and school spirit can meld into one.