Santa Rita Times: Volume 4

Santa Rita Times

About this publication

Friday October 21, 2022

Students in Journalism Club collaborate, design, and create the Santa Rita newspaper. We hope you enjoy Volume 4.

The History of Halloween

Written & Researched by: Estelle Skinner & Rebecca Webber

The Results Are In!

When you think of Halloween, the first things that come to our minds are probably costumes, candy, pumpkins and trick-or-treating. However, have you ever wondered where Halloween came from, what it all means, and who invented it? We are here to answer all your big questions about this celebrated holiday.

There are two parts of the word Halloween that hold a special meaning. The two parts are "Hallow" and "een". Hallow means "holy person" and refers to the Saints celebrated on All Saints' Day, which is celebrated on November 1st. The "een" part of the word is a contraction of "eve" meaning evening before. So basically, Halloween is just an old-fashioned way of saying "the night before All Saints' Day".

The holiday of Halloween dates back 2,000 years ago to the Celtic Celebration of Samhain (sow-in). Samhain was a festival just like Halloween. It was celebrated halfway between Autumn and Winter. They celebrated it at the end of the harvest and the start of the new year, when "darkness takes over the light."

Halloween all started with the Ancient Celts, a group of people who shared the same beliefs, language and traditions living in Europe. They marked the day with bonfires and put on costumes to scare off ghosts of the dead, which they believed returned to Earth on the 31st, also known to us today as Halloween.

Results Gathered by Emma Heilman & Lilliana Gaitan

According to the polls collected from all the classrooms at Santa Rita, Sour Patch Kids are the favorite type of Halloween candy this year! There were 118 kids who voted for this sweet and sour candy. The rest of the results included 66 for Candy Corn, 49 for Skittles, 38 for M&Ms and 24 for Starbursts. Another 53 students voted for other candy not included as their ultimate favorite.

People in Ireland and northern France believed it was a night when the dead returned to the land of the living. The meaning of Halloween today is removed from its darker side. We now celebrate it by dressing up in costumes, carving pumpkins and going house to house asking for candy.

Image by Ogham Art

News & Local Events

How to Be Safe This Trick-or-Treating Season

Local Halloween Events

Information Collected by Isela Lopez & Avry Samaniego

Written by Kamryn Daniels

While Trick-or-Treating is a fun activity for all to enjoy, it also has its downfalls. One of these is it's safety issues for children. This Halloween season, we want to make sure you stay informed when trick-or-treating. We have some tips to make sure you stay safe while out and about celebrating with family and friends.

One of the local community events to check out this Halloween season is at the YMCA. It starts at 5pm on October 27th. Don't forget to wear your Halloween costume and bring a candy bag!

Located at 353 S. Randolph St. San Angelo, TX 76903

1. Stay close to your parents.

2. If you do get lost, ask an adult with kids to help you.

3. Stay out of the road if you can and wear something reflective incase there are cars driving nearby.

4. DO NOT pick up or eat any suspicious candy! This includes any candy that looks like it's already been opened.

5. Know your parent's phone numbers in case you get lost. Then you can ask a responsible adult if you can use their cell phone to call your parents if needed.

Image Credit: SAISD Webpage

Wikimedia Commons Image

Another scary Halloween event is Santa Rita's Annual Fall Festival! This year it will be held on Thursday, October 27th. It starts at 5:30pm and ends at 7:30pm. Games, treats, prizes, food and much more! Costumes are welcome!

Located at 615 S Madison St. San Angelo, TX 76901

Saturday Spook Night is an event you don’t want to miss! This is a FREE community event that families can enjoy together. There will be a variety of fun things to do such as Trunk-Or-Treat, Spooky Movies, costume contests and many more! It starts at 6pm and ends at 10 pm on Saturday October 29th.

Website for more information: https://discoversanangelo.com/event/saturday-spook-night/

Located at 1401 Edmund Blvd San Angelo, TX 76901

Photo Credit: Discover San Angelo

Culture & Art

Kamryn Daniels & Isela Lopez share some information on the similarities and differences between Halloween and Dia de los Muertos.

Halloween

Image by Petr Kratochvil

Words by Kamryn Daniels

In the American culture* people celebrate Halloween in many different ways. Families decorate their front porches with pumpkins, spider webs and ghosts. They pass out candy to kids that are dressed in costumes who walk door to door yelling "Trick-or-Treat!" In addition to the decoration and trick-or-treating, some families stay home and watch scary Halloween movies while others go and purposely get scared in a haunted house.

*Culture means things you believe in or ways you do something

Picture provided by Nibbles & Feasts

Image by Freepik

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Picture provided by Today.com

Image by The Torch

Dia de los Muertos

Words by Isela Lopez

Image by Good Housekeeping

Picture taken from iStock by Getty Images

The Hispanic culture celebrates Dia De Los Muertos along with many others on November 1st-2nd. Dia De Los Muertos is when you celebrate the people who have passed. On this day, families dance, laugh and eat many delicious foods and desserts to celebrate the lives of loved ones that are gone. Some people do things like make different desserts, such as pan de muertos. They also decorate by setting up an alter. Many families go to their loved one's graves and bring with them sugar skulls, merigolds and traditional foods. Afterwards, they go to eat and celebrate together.

Book Reviews

Take a look at some holiday book recommendations from our journalists Isabelle Perez, Ben Barton and Eli Alvarado

Dem Bones

Hocus Pocus

Goosebumps

Click, Clack, Boo!

Creepy Pair of Underwear!

by Doreen Cronin

by Bob Barner

by Aaron Reynolds

This is a funny book and one of my favorites. It’s perfect for 2nd or 3rd graders. I mean, who doesn't love a story about a pair of creepy tighty-whities?

by John Duvall

by R.L. Stine

These halloween books are very funny and an excellent choice for kindergarten or first graders. The pictures are full of color and the author did a great job by using words that are fun to say and make you laugh.

These two books were recommended by 4th and 5th graders as "must reads." One is based on a new movie just released by Disney (the books are always better) and the other is a series of spooky stories to enjoy for ages.

Can't wait another second??? Listen to some of these recommended stories today!

Entertainment/Humor

Fill in the blanks, plug in your answers to the Madlib, read, laugh and enjoy! (Noun=person, place or thing) (Verb=action word) (Adjective=describing word)

1. Holiday: ___________________________________________
2. Noun: _____________________________________________
3. Place: _____________________________________________
4. Person: ____________________________________________
5. Adjective: __________________________________________
6. Body Part (plural): _________________________________
7. Verb: ______________________________________________
8. Adjective: __________________________________________
9. Noun: ______________________________________________
10. Food: _____________________________________________
11. Plural Noun: ______________________________________
12. Famous Person: __________________________________
13. Noun: _____________________________________________
14. Food: _____________________________________________
15. Food: ______________________________________________
16. Number: __________________________________________
17. Verb: ______________________________________________
18. Family Member: ___________________________________
19. Food: ______________________________________________
20. Body Part: _________________________________________
21. Number: ___________________________________________
22. Adjective: __________________________________________
23. Plural Noun: _______________________________________
24. Holiday: ___________________________________________

Jokes Provided by Maryn Liles from Parade.com
Formatted by Kinlee Thomas

1: How do vampires get around on Halloween?
2: Why did the Headless Horseman get a job?
3: The skeleton couldn’t help being afraid of the storm...
4: Why didn’t the skeleton go to prom?
5: What’s a ghost's favorite dessert?
6: What’s a skeleton's favorite instrument?
7: How do ghosts search the web?
8: Who do monsters buy cookies from?
9: Why are graveyards so noisy?
10: What do you call two witches that live together?

ANSWERS: 1: On blood vessels! 2: He was trying to get a-HEAD in life! 3: ...He just didn’t have any guts! 4: He had no-BODY to go with! 5: I-SCREAM! 6: A sax-a-BONE! 7: They use GHOULgle! 8: GHOUL Scouts! 9: Because they all be COFFIN! 10: BROOM-mates!