The Halloween Parade has always been an important event at Westridge, but what made it even more special this year was that it was the first time Westridge’s entire staff and student body gathered together in person since the pandemic. Many students, grades fourth through twelfth, were exuberant to show off their costumes and chat about their upcoming Halloween plans.
Brittany Coker, who has organized the parade for the past three years, spoke about the precautions that would be taken to keep the Westridge community safe from COVID-19 during the parade. In previous years, the Halloween Parade occurred in the gym, and everyone was extremely close together. Due to Covid, however, this year’s parade was spread out on Frank Field. “I'm just so excited to be able to have this back together again, and although it's not in the gym, it's the closest thing that we can get to our traditional fun and the sense of just community that we were able to have,” said Ms. Coker in preparation for the event.
Although parents were not able to attend the parade in person as they did in previous years, they were able to watch through a live Zoom meeting. “I thought it was done really well, especially with the limitations put on the school due to Covid. I enjoyed seeing it and thought it looked like everyone was having fun. I hope we’ll get to see it in person next year!” said Martha Charles, mother of a Westridge freshman.
A wide variety of Halloween costumes were displayed at the event. From mushrooms to Taylor Swift’s, students demonstrated their creativity. “I thought it was really interesting,” said new Westridge student Emmabella B. ’25. “People put a lot of time and effort into their costumes, and you could see how much people enjoy the holiday.”
Westridge’s Halloween Parade has an abundance of traditions, one of which is the costume contest. This year, the judging panel consisted of Director of Equity Mr. Ian Tatum, 6th Grade Math teacher Mx. Kenzie Brownsmith, and Middle School History teacher Ms. Gigi Bizar. “I love the Halloween parade so much, but being a judge was difficult because there were way too many great options!” said Ms. Bizar after the parade.
Winners of the annual costume contest waved to the crowd, showing off their costumes. Categories including scariest, funniest, best group, best home-made, and best employee costumes. The full winners list is below...
LOL AWARD (Funniest Costume Category) - Winner was Dobby and the sock - Grace N. ‘23 and Frankie B. ‘23
THE BOO AWARD (Scariest Costume Category) - Winner was Alice Angel - Bellamy S. ‘24
BEST BESTIES AWARD (Group Costume Category) - Winner was KFC Chicken - Alexia L. ‘26 and Olivia W ‘26
HODGE PODGE AWARD (Homemade Costume Category) - Winner was Covid and the Vaccine Lyra G. ‘28 and Taylor T. ‘28 as well as Xochitl M. ‘22
EERIE EMPLOYEE AWARD (Employee Category) - Winner was the LS/MS office for their Little Red Riding Hood group character costume
Lyra G. ’28 and Taylor T. ’28 were elated to have won the Hodgepodge Award. A fan favorite, the pair dressed as the Covid virus and the vaccine. “I put plaster over a yoga ball, and then I popped the yoga ball and put these little Nerf bullets on it,” said Taylor.
Xochitl M. ’22, another winner of the Hodgepodge Award, wore an impressive set of wings inspired by a white gyrfalcon. “To make them, I scaled up gyrfalcon feathers and made each large feather with paper, tape, and plastic shafts and then attached them to the base made of wood and corrugated plastic,” she explained.
Teachers were in on the fun too. The history department dressed as Plague Doctors, one of the most topical costumes of the day. “We started talking about these costumes back in September,” said Ms. Cutler, who is part of the history department. “We were joking around one day about various masks that people have worn throughout history, such as flu masks from 1918, dust bowl masks, and gas masks of World War 1, and then our conversation evolved into how we should go as the plague doctors for Halloween.”
The Lower and Middle School office won the Eerie Employee Award with their group Little Red Riding Hood costume. The group was originally going as characters from the movie Hocus Pocus but decided on their winning costume last minute. “We were not expecting to win, and I 100% believe that Dr. Kelly is the reason we won with her sweet dance moves in front of the judges’ station,” said Farrell Heydorff, Dean of Lower and Middle School Student Activities.
Another Westridge Halloween tradition is the senior Halloween costume. Every year, the graduating class decides on a grade-wide costume which they reveal at the parade. This year, the class of ’22 chose to be various forms of Adam Sandler. Running around the field, they showed up in baggy gym shorts and oversized t-shirts. “Our friend came up with [the costume] because it was kind of a meme on the internet, and also it's really comfortable,” said Isabella M. ’22.
Additionally, this year is Head of School Elizabeth McGregor’s last year participating in the Halloween Parade at Westridge. She expressed that although the parade was slightly different than previous years, she enjoyed it nonetheless. “I love seeing everybody dressing up, and I think it's so important that we have this moment of joy and fun.”