By: Haben Jejaw, Ellen Hurd (Senn First Year) and Warisha Aziz, Jocelin Andrade (Senn Sophomores)
Halloween is back again with an interesting turn of events from last year; we can finally go out and celebrate like we used to.
The RogersEdge Reporter staff pursued some different angles to see how area residents are spending their Halloween.
Georgia Powless, a 15-year-old resident of Rogers Park, shared the importance and excitement in celebrating this holiday which helps keep us young.
Jejaw: How did you feel with finally being able to do something for Halloween?
Powless: I really did and still do feel as if I finally got the chance to live out my life again. I truly do love Halloween and it’s by far my favorite holiday because I get to finally do something along with many people including close friends. The festival I went to really did boost my excitement and revive my old traditions from years back. I got to celebrate with a group after being alone and terrified for about a year. So I really did fall back in love.
Jejaw: How has covid affected your wanting to attend?
Powless: To be totally honest it was the main priority in my mind. I was overall a bit nervous about the number of people but most of these events do require masks and vaccination cards/negative COVID test which did make me feel a lot safer. I also am planning on going trick or treating which is an outdoor activity which is pretty safe especially with a small group.
Jejaw: Do you suggest others also do the same to celebrate?
Powless: I really do! I do believe if they celebrate Halloween and enjoy it they should of course take precautions but they should most definitely try to jump back in and have fun with it and just enjoy celebrations.
Spooks and Scares; Why We Don’t Care
By: Warisha Aziz (Senn Sophomore)
“Boo!” Scary season is in town and many are costuming up and getting their pumpkin bucket in tow ready to take on trick or treating. But not everyone will be collecting bags of candy this year.
A University of Illinois at Chicago Junior student, Afan Aziz gives us insight on how he feels about Halloween as a Muslim.
He said, “I have not celebrated Halloween at all due to religious reasons because it is not something we celebrate. I have wanted to celebrate Halloween because who doesn’t want to trick or treat for candy.”
Safa Irfan, a Muslim Sophomore at Senn High School said, “I never celebrated Halloween because it’s not something we do in my culture or religion. We have different things to look forward to in the year. I usually felt left out when I saw other people my age going on about Christmas and other holidays I didn’t even know of as a South Asain kid.”
Although Muslims do not celebrate the holiday of spooks and scares, some still enjoy the glamor of the holiday. A 55-year-old Muslim Rogers Park resident, Nasreen Athar said, “It’s not in our religion to celebrate this holiday but we put candies outside for the kids. When Halloween rolls around, I ask my husband to drive us around the city to see all the cute costumes, it’s like a fashion show.”
Halloween in Rogers Park during COVID
Jocelin Andrade, Senn High School Sophomore
It’s getting colder, the beginning of fall has just begun meaning that Halloween isn’t far from us now, not to mention COVID-19 is still around us.
I interviewed Senn High School’s Media Literacy/Lead Journalism teacher Michael Cullinane, who has children aged two and five.
Andrade: How do you feel about trick or treating this year?
Cullinane: I feel good about it, and I think my kids are really excited about it. We’ve got our costumes picked out and our neighborhood does really cool stuff to celebrate the kids, so we are looking forward to it.
Andrade: What do you think will change about Halloween this year?
Cullinane: I think its pretty much gonna be back to normal this year.
Andrade: What are some ways you can prevent covid while trick or treating.
Cullinane: I think a lot of times it’s about keeping their hands clean and it’s more about worrying about what you do indoors than outdoors, I think when we’re outdoors we are gonna be pretty safe they seem to show that, but it’s about avoiding indoor parties.
Andrade: What are your kids dressed up as?
Cullinane: I have two kids, two and five and they are excited to be dressed up as a ninja for my five-year-old boy, and a sea dragon for my two-year-old girl. Its gonna be very cute!
