A LYNNFIELD HIGH SCHOOL student dressed up as Ghostface from the “Scream” movies in order to scare residents during Haunted High School on Oct. 27. (Dan Tomasello Photo)
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — It’s the spookiest time of year.
Hundreds of residents came together to get scared and have some laughs when Lynnfield High was transformed into Haunted High School on Sunday, Oct. 27. The LHS Class of 2026 and Lynnfield Community Schools hosted the fundraiser, and the event’s proceeds will be used to support the Class of 2026.
“I am so excited that we were able to bring it back,” said LHS math teacher Dr. Nicole Hawes, who is one of the Class of 2026’s co-advisors. “It has been two years since we hosted Haunted High School. The juniors did an amazing job organizing it. The students started decorating and getting everything set up in the morning. I am really proud of them for all of the work that they did. I hope the community enjoyed themselves.”
Lynnfield Community Schools Coordinator Morgan Festa agreed.
“We had a great turnout,” said Festa. “We sold over 500 tickets. It was a great community event.”
Haunted High School has been one of the town’s most popular events over the last several decades. Similar to previous years, the fundraiser featured a long line of residents waiting to get spooked when the doors opened at 4 p.m. Haunted High School stayed busy until the doors closed. A number of children wore their Halloween costumes to the fundraiser.
In order to transform Lynnfield High into a haunted house, students started decorating the hallways Sunday morning. The different hallways were transformed into scary and happy areas. The happy hallways featured a Charlie Brown section, a holiday season area, a Lynnfield soccer section and there was a holidays from around the world area.
“Everyone went through the happy hallways before deciding whether they wanted to go through the scary hallways to get spooked,” said Festa.
LHS STUDENT COUNCIL members, from left, Gianna Micielli, Sonia Kumar, Chloe Cieslewicz and Alex Schmidt had a blast volunteering at Haunted High School on Oct. 27. (Dan Tomasello Photo)
The scary areas featured a crime scene, Disney gone wrong, haunted hotel, haunted nursery, haunted children’s playroom, haunted asylum, pumpkin patch and a skeleton hallway. LHS students hid in different places such as lockers and repeatedly screamed in order to scare people.
“We had a great turnout with the different hallways,” said Festa. “The kids did a great job.”
After children finished walking through both hallways, they were given a bag of candy to take home.
Junior Sonia Kumar, who is a Student Council representative, said it was a blast to help organize Haunted High School.
“Haunted High School was a really fun event to put on,” said Sonia. “It was a lot of work, but it was all worth it.”
LHS Assistant Principal Mike McLeod concurred with Sonia’s viewpoint.
“It was a great community event for Lynnfield and it was a great fundraiser for the LHS Class of 2026,” said McLeod. “The kids who participated in Haunted High School did a great job. Anytime you can bring the community together at an event like this is great for everybody. It’s great that the Class of 2026 and Lynnfield Community Schools put this event together.”
LYNNFIELD HIGH SCHOOL freshmen Audrey Malone (left) and Sabrina Hayman had a great time scaring hundreds of people during Haunted High School on Oct. 27. (Dan Tomasello Photo)
While Haunted High School served as a fundraiser for the Class of 2026, LHS students from all four grades participated in the fundraiser.
Festa recalled that she attended and volunteered at Haunted High School while growing up in town. She was thrilled that the fundraiser is still as popular as ever.
“All different ages are able to participate,” said Festa. “The little kids enjoy going through the happy hallways, middle school students enjoy going through both hallways and high school students enjoy volunteering. It’s a great family and community event that brings different ages and families together. The kids and families had a lot of fun.”
Festa thanked Hawes and LHS math teacher Leanne Manderson, who is the other LHS Class of 2026 advisor, for helping the Student Council organize Haunted High School.
“The class officers were really on top of everything such as getting the candy bags ready for the kids and making sure everything was organized and set up,” said Festa.
Festa also thanked “everyone from town who came to Haunted High School to support it.”
