Terror and laughs come alive at Haunted High School

 

By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — Enter if you dare.

Seven hundred residents came together to get scared and have some laughs when Lynnfield High was transformed into Haunted High School on Sunday, Oct. 23. The LHS Class of 2025 and Lynnfield Community Schools hosted the fundraiser once again, and the event’s proceeds will be used to support the Class of 2025.

“It was a very successful fundraiser,” said LHS English teacher Joey Puleo, who is one of the Class of 2025’s co-advisors. “The high school students worked really hard to make Haunted High School a huge success.”

LHS English teacher Stefanie Marcoux, who is the Class of 2025’s co-advisor with Puleo, agreed.

“The students did an amazing job,” said Marcoux. “The students put a lot of effort into this year’s Haunted High School.”

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 at 9 a.m. Rooms and hallways were transformed into scary and happy rooms. The themes of the happy rooms included America, birthday party, beach party, dance party, underwater and Wild West. The scary room themes included circus, haunted hospital, haunted hotel, horror movies, plague, scary nursery and the undead.

“The students did a great job coming up with unique themes,” said Puleo. “The students worked really hard to create the scary and happy rooms. The students’ creativity was great.”

Marcoux concurred with Puleo’s viewpoint.

 

 

“We had an incredible range of themes this year,” said Marcoux. “The students went over the top with their decorations. The happy room themes were fun and creative. In the underwater room, the students used clear balloons to make them look like bubbles and they made fish and an octopus out of balloons. The scary rooms were very scary, but a lot of fun. The scary rooms featured black tarps, fake blood, netting and lighting effects to make the rooms creepy and scary. The students’ costumes were great.”

Marcoux noted that Haunted High School attendees were able to vote for their favorite happy room and scary room for the first time this year.

“We thought it would be a lot of fun for the kids,” said Marcoux.

Sophomore Emma Rose, who is a Student Council representative, had a blast participating in the haunted hospital hallway this year.

“Getting to be a part of Haunted High School this year was amazing,” said Rose. “I remember walking through as a kid, and always wanted to be part of the event. My group’s theme was haunted hospital, and we had so much fun decorating and planning costumes. I hope we raised a ton of money for our class.”

Puleo concurred with Rose’s viewpoint.

“People love Haunted High School,” said Puleo. “I have such good memories coming to the event as a kid, in high school and now as a teacher. I love it. It’s one of my favorite Lynnfield events.”

 

 

Principal Bob Cleary said the students did “a great job” transforming LHS into a haunted house.

Marcoux said a number of alumni attended Haunted High School with their children. She said a large number of grandparents came to the fundraiser as well.

While Haunted High School served as a fundraiser for the Class of 2025, Puleo said high school students from all four grades participated in the fundraiser.

“The students were able to get community service hours for it,” said Puleo. “We collaborated with Lynnfield Community Schools because it’s a great community event.”

Community Schools Director Sarah Perkins thanked Cleary and Superintendent Kristen Vogel for supporting Haunted High School. She also thanked the Summer Street School and Huckleberry Hill School PTOs for raising awareness about the fundraiser.

Marcoux also thanked Barnsley Road residents Bill and Amanda Gardner for donating scary Halloween masks for the fundraiser. She also thanked parent volunteers for helping decorate the different rooms and hallways.