Malabar art teacher Sonnett Hogue supervises as children carve designs into gourds that were coated with wax from melted crayons.
There were tigers, witches and bears, even a skeleton with flashing green eyes. There were pumpkin math puzzles, vocabulary bingo and gourd carving.
An overwhelming crowd of parents, grandparents and students turned out Thursday for Malabar Intermediate School’s annual Malaboo Halloween Madness Math, Science and Literacy Night. Many students and some staff came in costumes.
“I was truly amazed at the turnout,” Principal Andrea Moyer said. “I’m sure we had over 300 people and a majority of our staff assisted with the event.”
Board of education member Sheryl Weber marveled at the crowd in the cafeteria enjoying dinner before beginning classroom visits.
“This is wonderful,” Mrs. Weber said. “I am thrilled to see so many families here to enjoy this evening.”
As the diners left the cafeteria they dispersed to participate in various classroom activities. Some visited the planetarium where teachers Brad Strong and Jennifer Plaisted discussed stars and constellations and demonstrated a 24-hour Earth rotation.
The art room was a popular venue where teachers Sonnett Hogue and Janine Boocks showed visitors how to dip gourds into melted crayons, creating a wax coating just right for carving designs.
On the opposite side of the building teachers Beth Steiner and Carol Houseworth were offering pumpkin estimation puzzles. Their description in the evening’s printed program said, “Learn how to make educated guesses, use rounding strategies and complete subtraction puzzles…”
Sixth-grader Sam Gerster, clad head to foot in a bear costume, said it took him about five minutes to solve the pumpkin puzzle.
In Room 209 language arts teacher Lisa Koplan and math/science teacher Don Walter offered “It was a dark and stormy night…” Students used creative writing to draft their own spooky story problems.”
Similar exercises in math, literacy and science were offered throughout the classroom wing. In teacher Emily Nicol’s room families colored and assembled “monster multiplication wheels” that students took home to practice their basic multiplication facts.
The Mansfield-Richland County Public Library joined in the fun by staffing a table offering games and information about library programs and books.