The St. Joseph’s Academy Student Council sponsored its annual Halloween Fun Day on October 31, and the creativity of students, faculty and staff took center stage. Among the highlights of the annual event were costume contests held during all lunch periods, with Dining Hall employees serving as judges.

“Halloween is such an exciting time around the SJA campus.” Emily Lopez '10

Fourth-hour winners were Caroline Avera, Nicole Weishar, Elizabeth Babin, Julianne Krouse and Alise Alexander as The Lions, best overall; Candice Schwartzenburg, Laura D’Aquin, Kimberly Larriviere, Alaine Dawson, Lynne Chapman, Emily Lopez, Mary Rhorer and Camille Eleazar as The Von Trapps, best group; Rachel Marsh, Tiffany Kelly and Brooke Hotard as Peanut Butter Jelly Time, best food; and Anne Lipscomb as The Old Man, best character.

Fifth-hour winners were Emily Lasseigne, Megan Lenox, Leah Aultman, Emily Annaloro, Caroline Bourg, Alaina Leggette and Caroline Lieux as Kitchen Appliances, best group; Stephanie Cronan as Hey Arnold, best TV character; Kimberly Kwan, Elise McDonner, Madison Moore, Becky Rees, Megan Cannatella, Emily Graham, Lauren Landry, Amanda Simoneaux, Sarah Plaisance and Brooke Fenn as Breakfast, best food; and Gisele Calderon and Megan Aultman as Pinatas, most creative.

Sixth-hour winners were Meagan Delatte and Erin Pitchford as The Babies, most original; Blair Gordy and Allison Chustz as The Old Ladies, best all around; Malena Moreau, The Taco, best food; and Courtney David, Kristi Condon, Rebecca Andries and Alex Gautreaux as The Twisters, best group.

Junior Courtney Wolf and two friends dressed as the three blind mice. She said the day was a lot of fun. “Everyone was in a good mood, probably from the sugar, and everyone just had a blast being able to dress up and act like fools with our friends,” she said.

Sophomore Mary Miller was part of a creative group effort. “A couple of girls on my cross country team wanted to do a running-themed costume,” she said. “Someone came up with the idea of runaway brides, and we all elaborated from there. We wore our usual running clothes along with bridal veils, engagement rings and bouquets.”

Freshman Sara Daniel, who dressed as dirty laundry, said she enjoyed seeing her fellow students’ costumes. “Everyone at this school is very creative,” she said. “This day was special because it was the first time I’ve really gotten to see people’s personality and creativity. This day was a really great experience.”

Freshman Amanda Hebert capitalized on her name – which she shares with Spanish teacher Amanda Hebert – and dressed like the teacher. “I am enjoying confusing people when they find out my real name is Amanda Hebert,” she said. “Many people who are in her class laughed, which I enjoyed. She also dressed up as a student, which was really funny. Getting to take a picture with Ms. Hebert was very fun. She said she wanted a picture so that she could remember the day that her student was really her.”

Junior Jordan Olinde said Halloween is her favorite holiday, and spending the day in costumes with other students made the day special. “Having fun in the classrooms, seeing all the different costumes at lunch and just having a break from the really hard work this week really made the day special for me,” she said.

Freshman Alise Alexander was among a pack of lions. “We had so much fun making the costumes,” she said. “We braided yarn for tails, glued felt to headbands for ears, cut strips of felt and glued them around the neck of a yellow sweatshirt for a mane and teased our hair big time,” she said. “I loved seeing other people walking around school with really clever costumes. The creativity just amazed me.”

Freshman Andrea Bodin, attired as a nerd, said the day was special. “We took so many pictures, and I participated in the ‘model show’ at lunch,” she said. “It was so funny to see everyone in their costumes. Today felt like a pep rally day. I loved it.”

Junior Ainsley Fagan dressed as Hannah Montanna. “At my old school, we didn’t dress up for Halloween, so this was really new and very exciting,” she said. “I never expected people to go out as much as they did.”

“Halloween is such an exciting time around the SJA campus,” junior Emily Lopez said. “I get so excited when I see everyone dressed up in their costumes. My costume was Frauline Maria from my favorite movie of all time, the Sound of Music. It was so much fun singing and dancing to the songs from the movie with my friends, who also dressed up as the seven Von Trapp children. It was definitely a day I will never forget.”

Sophomore Emily Lasseigne was part of the award-winning kitchen appliance group. She dressed as an oven. “It was so hard walking around school with my book sack, laptop and oven, but the day was fun,” she said. “Our costume won best group, so it turned out being a success.”

Freshman Yvette Tabary was a professional ping pong player. “Today was so much fun, seeing everyone dressed up,” she said. “Everyone was talking about my costume, and I’m glad I could make people laugh. I loved how everyone really got into it. It definitely showed some people’s real personalities and how outgoing they could be.”

Sophomore Mary DuBoulay was a Japanese princess, complete with an embroidered kimono. “I thought it was a lot of fun to see how creative everyone was when it came to costumes,” she said. “This day was special to me because we all got the chance to express our individuality by what costumes we wore. Before coming to SJA, Halloween was doing homework, wearing a costume once and having to wake up in the morning to get ready for school (with a terrible stomachache from devouring too much candy). Now, it’s a lot of fun because we get to wear our costumes to school and see what everyone else is wearing.”

Students also enjoyed goodie bags and door prizes courtesy of the SJA Mothers’ Club Student Appreciation Committee, chaired by Mary Weimar. Co-chair was Toni Deranger. They were assisted by Carol Daniel, Mari Tumminello and Jeannette Rolfsen.


Mindy Brodhead Averitt
Communications Director