The first annual Halloween Carnival at OHS was held in 2022 under the new administration of Principal Dana Bullard and Assistant Principal Lucas Ferguson. This event was planned to give the high school students, teachers, clubs, and sports teams a way to engage with the younger schools and the Oxford community as a whole. Building a strong relationship between the high school and the community has always been Bullard’s biggest goal since becoming principal.
“We were excited the first year we did it, we had a great turnout,” Ferguson said. “It was such a success that we decided to have it the second year, which we estimated a little over 800 people were at.”
It has been trial and error throughout the years of having the carnival. There have been issues in the past, but the planning process gets smoother each year.
“Last year we set up a haunted trail in the aux gym and the fog machines set off the fire alarms, so the fire department had to come to turn those off, which was a big setback,” Ferguson said. “But, you learn as you go and fix your problems to make it better for the next year, so this year we are having a haunted library instead.”
This fall, the third annual Halloween Carnival was held in the Charger Yard on Monday, Oct. 21 as the kickoff to homecoming week. OHS Student Council, OHS Art Club, FFA, DECA, HOSA, OHS Superiors, the science department,AVID, as well as many other organizations in the Oxford School District provided a game, activity, or treat for the carnival.
“You just sign up to be a part of it,” Ferguson said. “Usually, it’s low cost because it’s important to make it as special and as big as we can without breaking the bank so that everyone can come together and do something fun without having to pay for it.”
This year there was a movie played in the Charger Yard directly after the Halloween Carnival. The movie “Goosebumps” was projected onto a big screen so that students and teachers could sit in lawn chairs and on blankets to watch. OHS Student Council and RISE worked together to make this possible.
“Two of our members are a part of student council and Chaney reached out to see if we would want to collaborate with them to fundraise and bring awareness to our club,” Maggie Irwin, RISE club leader, said.
The two organizations joined together to start brainstorming ideas for how to make the movie night as productive and special as they could. RISE decided to provide concessions in which all profits would go to their club.
“We sold popcorn, candy, and drinks during the movie night and we also set up a table at the carnival that had free lollipops with positive affirmations,” George Monroe, RISE leader, said. “The money went to fund our club and more specifically we are using that money to get Certified Peer Educating training for more RISE members.”
RISE is known for uplifting the student body with pop-ups and morning yoga. This collaboration was another way of providing something special to Oxford High School.
“It makes sense for RISE to be affiliated with these events because it’s about people from all different groups coming together for fun, and our club embodies that unity,” Monroe said.
Schoolwork and activities can get stressful throughout the year, and the Halloween carnival is a way to bring some entertainment and distraction to the OHS campus.
“I think the reason for having this movie night as well as the carnival beforehand is to bring together our student body for some fun,” Irwin said. “Events like this can allow students to take their mind off of learning and
bring lots of enjoyment.”
The turnout was approximately the same as previous years for the Halloween carnival, but it was the first year for the movie night in several years.It was also the first year the movie night was held in the Charger Yard.
“It was the first time we had a movie night in a while and it was a good turnout,” Monroe said. “If we build off of that turnout in the next few years it would be even more beneficial for not only our club but the student body.”
The intentions behind the carnival have always been to unite the student body with the Oxford community, but having the carnival during homecoming week this year gave an extra special touch to the event and unified the school more than ever.
“I think it’s significant that this is happening during homecoming week because it brings out everyone’s school spirit,” Irwin said. “It allows all the students to gather and make memories of going to Oxford High School and being a charger.”
