Halloween is a very old holiday. Americans celebrate it with pumpkin carving (jack o' lanterns), candy, trick-or-treating, decorating houses and yards, costume contests and parades, and parties.
We celebrate Halloween at San Mateo Adult School to practice our English, learn about US customs and traditions, and build community.
Here's how San Mateo Adult School will celebrate it this year.
Evening ESL Classes Thursday, October 29
7:30 pm Bring carved pumpkins, marked with classroom #, to Room 25 for judging
8:00 pm Costume Contest - prizes for most original, scariest, funniest
Photo Opp with Halloween Backdrop
Games for those who want to play
Morning ESL Classes Friday, October 30
10:00 Bring carved pumpkins (clearly marked with classroom #) to Room 27 for display.
10:30 Costume Contest and Parade - prizes for most original, scariest, funniest
10:50 Dance Party in Room 25
10:50 - 11:40 Games: Balloon Board Games; Tingo Tingo Tango; 3-Legged Obstacle Race.
Here is some information about the history of Halloween:
Halloween started with the Celts. These people lived in England, Ireland, and France a long time ago.
November 1 was their New Year’s Day. October 31 was their New Year’s Eve.
The name they called New Year’s Eve was Samhain (pronounced SOW – in).
Many of our Halloween traditions come from Samhain. The Romans added things – like apples – when they conquered England. Bobbing for apples – putting your face in a bucket of water and trying to bite an apple with your teeth – is an old Halloween tradition.
The Romans also brought Christianity to England. Samhain became part of All Hallow’s Eve – the evening before the Day of All Hallows – All Saints Day.
When English people came to North America they discovered squash. Pumpkin is a kind of squash. In England, they carved jack o' lanterns out of root vegetables like turnips. The pumpkins were much easier to carve and looked better.
Pumpkin is also very good to eat. Many people make pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins and pumpkin pie at this time of year.
If you want to read more about Halloween and how it got started you can go here:
http://www.history.com/minisites/halloween/viewPage?pageId=713
If you want lots of general information about Halloween, you can go to Wikipedia at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween.
If you have kids and you are looking for fun Halloween events for your family, you can go to http://www.sfkids.org/ or http://www.friscokids.net/ for ideas.
It’s a crazy holiday – but a fun one. Enjoy!
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