Spooky Season: Teacher Edition
By Grace Parsons ’21 and Maddie Olshemski ’23
Do you know the reason for which we celebrate Halloween? Halloween was originally a time in which the Celts of ancient Britain would wear masks and other disguises to ward off ghosts. Spooky, right? Well, Halloween is right around the corner, and ACE club and the Levi-Spragues have a super spooky time planned for you right here at Sem this Friday and Saturday. On that note, The Opinator hopes you are ready for pumpkin carving, a haunted house, a scary movie, and an overall fun weekend with your friends! To kick off this ~spooky-filled~ Halloween-themed week, this teacher questionnaire is a must-read! Several of your class deans, teachers, and advisors have been asked to answer a few questions about their Halloween interests, fears, and childhood memories, so check them out!
What was your favorite Halloween costume when you were a kid, and why?
Mr. Pons: “In first grade, I was a calculator. My brother was Darth Vader.”
Mrs. Mozeleski: “My favorite costume was either my fully outfitted fly fisherman outfit or
when I was Martha Stewart in prison.”
Mr. Sherry: “One year, I made my own robot costume out of tinfoil-covered cardboard boxes with a working slot in the front that opened so the people could drop candy into it.”
Mr. Dinsmore: “Luke Skywalker – what more needs to be said? It was the first movie I saw. Epic!”
Mr. Morris: “I had an awesome Luke Skywalker costume one year. It was the best! I remember the original Star Wars (yes, I saw it in a theater, so yes, I’m old) really captivated me, so that costume allowed me to channel what I envisioned my inner Jedi to be.”
Dr. Kaschak: “My favorite childhood costume was a hockey goalie. It was a welcome break from being a baseball player for Halloween.”
Mrs. Swaback: “We had one of my mom’s nurse uniforms, and we would alter it to be a diabolical nurse … crazy wig, large fake needle, rubber gloves and fake blood!”
Mr. Shafer: “My favorite Halloween costume was Sub Zero from Mortal Kombat.”
What is the scariest movie you have watched?
Mr. Pons: “28 Days Later. It could happen, right? Look at measles.”
Mrs. Mozeleski: “Scariest movie was Scream, and it was the first and last real horror movie I watched, and I didn’t make it the whole way through it.”
Mrs. Bartron: “I still think The Exorcist is one of the scariest movies ever.”
Mr. Sherry: “It’s not really a horror movie, but I don’t think I’ve ever fully recovered from the ending of Time Bandits.”
Mr. Morris: “Alien (the original) scared the heck out of me when I first saw it way back in the day. Dark, creepy, scary, gross – almost like a sci-fi haunted house.”
Rev Carrick: “Terror Train – made me jump too many times!”
Dr. Kaschak: “It’s a tie between The Exorcist and the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
Mrs. Swaback: “Happy Birthday to Me. I’ll never forget it. There was a movie theater in Pittston that allowed you into R rated movies. We were probably in middle school. I have never voluntarily watched a horror movie again. I’ll never forget the last scene when they were all around a table with a birthday cake!”
Mr. Shafer: “Scariest movie is a really tough one. I love horror movies, so I’ve seen a ton, but that makes it very hard for them to leave a lasting impression. I do remember that the movie Piranha absolutely terrified me as a child to the point that I was convinced I would die if I went in the Sem pool. More recently, I think The Strangers is my favorite.”
Would you rather be stalked by Micheal Myers or Freddy Krueger?
Mr. Pons: “Freddy. I love to sleep, but not summer camp.”
Mrs. Mozeleski: “Michael Myers without a doubt …”
Mr. Ris: “I’m not really too familiar with either of them. I was about to say Michael Myers because he would cause me to laugh myself to death, but then I looked up Michael Myers’s photo and learned he was not the same actor as the famous SNL comedian.”
Mr. Sherry: “Freddy Krueger. Halloween is usually right around fall musical tech week, so I wouldn’t be asleep enough for him to get me in my dreams.”
Mr. Dinsmore: “Micheal Myers. At least I could find a safe place to sleep, and I have a bigger chain-saw than he does.”
Mr. Harvey: “Michael Myers. I like my sleep and would hate to think that Freddy Kueger was messing with it.”
Dr. Kaschak: “I would rather be stalked by Michael Myers. He is a less capable killer than Freddy Krueger.”
Mr. Shafer: “100% Michael Myers. He’s just a regular dude. Freddy Krueger is supernatural, which makes him way harder to shake. Plus, I need my beauty rest, so I can’t have anybody messing up my dreams.”
Are you one to be scared easily?
Mr. Pons: “OMG yes.”
Mr. Ris: ” I’m not sure if I scare easily, or if I just enjoy being scared. I will generally go all out to be genuinely scared.”
Mrs. Bartron: “Not so much. I’m fairly tough.”
Mr. Sherry: “I wouldn’t say scared, no. But I’ll jump/yell/throw something when I’m caught off guard.”
Mr. Morris: “Interesting question. I do still enjoy a good movie that plays with your mind. Signs for example.”
Rev Carrick: “I am a big jumper when it comes to movies.”
Mr. Harvey: “I like scary movies, but that being said, I do scare fairly easily.”
Mr. Shafer: “Only jump scares get me, but I always end up laughing after. I do tend to scare myself in some way because of my wild imagination.”
If you were in a horror movie, would you be the last person standing, the first to die, the comic relief, the smart one, or the killer, and why?
Mr. Pons: “Comic relief. If you can’t laugh, what’s the point of living?”
Mrs. Mozeleski: “If I were in a horror movie, I would be in a living hell, but I would definitely try to outsmart the killer. So, consider me the smart one who would probably also be the first one to die.”
Mr. Ris: “While I enjoy being scared, I would not be any of the really stupid ones who went into the haunted house at night in the middle of a thunder and lightning storm, or who wandered into a dark cave from which no one had ever come out alive, or any other comparably dubious situation. So I guess I would be the smart one who did not follow all his friends into certain death.”
Mrs. Bartron: “Perhaps the comic relief and the distractor – hopefully the smart one!”
Mr. Sherry: “I’d be the scraggly-bearded guy who had survived a run-in with the monster/killer in the past and warns the new potential victims, only to later die when I try to help them because they didn’t listen to my warning (basically Death-By-I-Told-You-So).”
Rev Carrick: “Well, comic reliefs have a good survival rate …”
Dr. Kaschak: “Having watched a lot of horror movies growing up, I think I learned enough to be the smart one in a horror movie.”
Mr. Shafer: “I think I’d be the killer. Kind of like Amanda from Saw II. I’ve been through it enough times that it’s time for me to make my own games. Want to play?”