On October 23, Mrs. Oelrichs’s Chemistry 2 class put on a Halloween show for the fourth graders at New Haven Elementary. The high school students spent weeks preparing experiments that were Halloween-related. The students had to pick their own experiments and practice them in order to perform them correctly. To make the show more entertaining, the students decorated the classroom and dressed up in costumes.
Sarah McKernan and Emma Engelbrecht were partners in their experiment during the show. Sarah dressed up as Daphne from “Scooby-Doo” and Emma dressed up as Elsa from “Frozen”.
Sarah remarked about some of her favorite parts about the show: “Our experiment created bubbles using dry ice and warm water. The kids would get so excited over the littlest things, like lighting a Bunsen burner. That was my favorite part about the whole show. We spent weeks before practicing our experiments in the lab and also creating our scripts. I heard from many teachers that the kids thought the whole show was cool.”
Her partner, Emma, added, “My favorite part was seeing how excited the kids were the whole time. They were super excited and in awe of everything.”
Liz Hughes and Lauren Gerlemann dressed up as characters from “Monsters Inc.” Liz was Boo and Lauren was Mike Wazowski.
Liz stated, “Our experiment was setting ice on fire. We had to research about our experiment and get all the needed materials. My personal favorite experiment of the show was Sarah and Emma’s dry ice bubbles. It was fun to get to see the kids interacting and having fun.”
Michelle Bahena and Lydia Pataky were also partners for their experiment. Michelle dressed up as Lilo and Lydia dressed up as Stitch from “Lilo and Stitch”.
Michelle said, “Our experiment was creating elephant toothpaste. We made this by mixing a sodium solution with hydrogen peroxide…. I think the kids liked Kate Ruediger’s experiment which was turning the inside of a pumpkin green.”
Mrs. Oelrichs had a few comments herself. “The science teacher who taught before me started the show, and when I started teaching at New Haven, Mrs. Meyer asked if I was going to continue the tradition. I thought it sounded like a lot of fun, so I did! It's also a great way to get kids excited about science. As long as my Chem 2 class is willing to put in the work to prepare the Halloween show, I plan to continue the tradition!”
After being asked what her favorite part was, she answered, “I enjoyed the interaction between the seniors and the 4th graders. It's so much fun to see the amazement on the 4th graders’ faces, and to see how the seniors react to them. They were amazed when we lit a Bunsen burner, and were excited to get treat bags, so it doesn't take much to impress them!”
Good job to all who performed in this year’s Halloween show.