Snow and Pumpkins: A Unique Vermont Halloween

A spooky pumpkin gets cold, too!

Visiting Scholar Lu Jianhong, who is currently at Putney Central School, shares her thoughts about a Halloween that has both snow and spooky ghosts! Lu Jianhong celebrated the event with her host family and the ASOP curriculum coordinator, Gerry Gatz. 
Read Lu Jianhong's reflection here:

It is Halloween today. With the greetings “Happy Halloween!” or “Merry Christmas!” the kids merrily came into the classroom with a full backpack. I was greatly surprised because it was not Christmas yet. They laughed and said it was white with snow outside.

In the afternoon we held a party in the classroom and I showed the kids how to use chopsticks to pick up candies. Children could only eat candies if they picked them up with chopsticks. It was great fun for them.

After school Angela and I drove to Gerry’s home to enjoy Halloween night. When we arrived we were delighted to see a big pumpkin, lit up, carved by Gerry. After 5 pm children began to knock at the door and say “trick or treat”. Some were small kids, only about 4 or 5-years-old while some were high school students. Most of them were dressed up. When a woman dressed up in something like grapes appeared and claimed herself grandma without bringing children with her I was amused. Some children also raised money for UNICEF. Gerry was busy giving out candies from 5:00pm to 8:30pm. While this is a completely new experience for me, I think it may also be a completely new experience for some kids. Maybe they need to gather up their courage to say “trick or treat”. It is also a way of cultivating their ability to communicate with different people.

On my way back to the host family around 9:00pm, I saw some kids still walking in snow playing “trick and treat” in the icy weather.