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Students carve out scary, gooey projects
Putting the ‘All' in Halloween
Friday, Oct. 30, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by EMILY BARNES
Aronna Green, 9, carves a pumpkin as other third-grade students Shaneya Allen, 8, and Alex Gandee, 8, work on their pumpkins at Dr. Thomas L. Higdon Elementary School on Wednesday.
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Third-graders at Dr. Thomas L. Higdon Elementary School were allowed to be messy Wednesday as pumpkin carving does not come easy.
"It's kind of gooey and slimy," Terrance Humphrey, 8, said.
Carving pumpkins in the third grade is a Halloween tradition at the Newburg school. Second-graders have an opportunity to paint pumpkins, but according to students at the Oct. 28 activity, carving is just as much, if not more, fun because instead of just sliding paint brushes around, the kids get to dig into the pumpkin.
And dig in they did. Of the three classes of pumpkin carvers there didn't seem to be one uncut pumpkin in sight.
Before students could cut into the pumpkins brought from home, they had to remove the pumpkin seeds and the not-so-pleasant pulp.
"Once you get the hang of it, it's easy," Terrance said scraping the remaining seeds and pulp from his pumpkin.
The three third-grade teachers and parent volunteers assisted, but the majority of the creative ideas and the carving were done by students with help from kid-friendly pumpkin carving kits which included jack-o'-lantern patterns, pulp scrapers and carving knives.
Gaynor Robben's class had several traditional jack-o'-lantern designs with triangle eyes and gaping mouths.
Jan Earnshaw's class created a few vampire jack-o'-lanterns, and Shannon Nichols' class had a lot of creative monsters such as Frankenstein and a creative pumpkin mask which resembles something the headless horseman might don.
Each class had a few aspiring jack-o'-lantern design experts taking time to follow patterns, even staying in from recess to work on it more.
"It's easy to carve pumpkins. ...You can have fun by carving and making funny faces," said Shaneya Allen, 8.
Students in all three classes smiled when reminded that lunch followed the activity, leaving parent volunteers and teachers to clean up the mess. However, the teachers found a way to include everyone in the cleanup process if only just a little bit.
The part of the activity students enjoyed more than carving was evident when looking at each table.
"You get to make a mess," Haley Bowling, 8, said.
Amareay Walters, 8, made a traditional jack-o'-lantern with large eyes and what he called a "face that makes a grin."
A parent volunteer said Amareay worked on the pumpkin himself and did a nice job.
Amareay said the secret to making a good jack-o'-lantern is having an adult helper to watch and getting a packet of pumpkin carving supplies that comes with "stickers and carvers."
Robben said she enjoyed watching the students attempt to mimic the patterns in the pictures and use the different tools available.
Earnshaw and Nichols also enjoyed watching the students, especially those who have never had the opportunity to carve a pumpkin, literally dig into the activity.
"This is what makes my job fun," Nichols said.
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