by Austyn Esser and Brandon Rimer
Approximately every Thursday AP biology teacher Mikel Tinich has his class do activities with the kids from the Early Childcare Center (ECC) such as bubble paintings, leaf drawings, constructing paper airplanes, and the very latest carving pumpkins on Oct. 27.
“We do something every Thursday with the kids so they can interact with the big kids,” Emily Baker, 10, said.
To get in the spirit of Halloween the students wanted to get ready for the upcoming holiday on Monday Oct. 31.
“We are carving pumpkins because it’s almost Halloween and you can’t have Halloween without Jack-O-Lanterns,” Baker said.
Denise Klincik, 10, was partnered with Baker and their ECC student Rylee Frye who has a princess fetish that she likes to incorporate in every way, even in their pumpkin carving.
“I drew Cinderella on the pumpkin and you have to put a light in it,” Frye said.
Aaron Schmidt, 12, and his ECC pumpkin partner Annabel Scheufler took an entirely different take on the facial design of their pumpkin.
“Once my brother carved a pumpkin, but it wasn’t scary,” Scheufler said. “Ours will be scary because he’s the joker.”
Schmidt and Scheufler made the perfectly festive pair as they attempted to make theirs as scary as possible.
“I think it’s one of the most fun experiences I have ever had, it takes me back to when I was a kid,” Schmidt said.
High school students and pre-school students split up the tasks of the project and worked as miniature teams.
“I like it because they get to draw the faces and we get to cut them out, we’re all involved,” Jared Hydock, 10, said.
Hydock’s partners Josh Lewis, 10, and ECC student Jace Stafford also enjoyed the activity.
“I think it’s very interesting because they make crazy faces on the pumpkins,” Lewis said.
Stafford really got into the chore at hand when it was his turn to decorate and help out.
“I liked drawing the face and pulling all the guts out,” Stafford said.
Gabby Buckner, 10, and her ECC partner Owen Leslie had other activities in mind after they carved their pumpkin.
“My favorite activity was carving pumpkins because my preschooler was crazy enthusiastic and he played soccer with other people’s pumpkins,” Buckner said.
