Coming to school after the sun goes down?
For most students, going to school after dark is unheard of, but for Rancho Cucamonga High School’s first Pumpkin Bash, students were invited to attend school after hours. On Wednesday, Oct. 22, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., students walked onto campus and saw fall-themed decorations fill the main quad alongside games, face painting, food, a photobooth, and a scare maze. Loud with chatter and music, the bustling quad also offered a scene of fun for students to hang out with their friends.
Students purchased entry tickets online or in person with cash for $5 with an ASB card and $7 without. Walking down the stairs from the front of the school, there was a ticket booth table where students could buy four tickets for $2. The tickets could be used for playing games, facepainting, or entering the maze.
The games consisted of axe throwing, basketball connect four, hula hoop ring toss, toy pig racing, and throwing the ball into the milk jug. Students had to have tickets for most of the games, but some games were free.
“I tried the axe one, that was really fun. I tried the hula hoop one, that was really fun too,” junior Everett Cornett said.
The activity that cost the most tickets, four tickets per person, was the maze. Although costing the most, the line for the maze dragged on with many students going in for a second scare. Both the ASB room and room T106 were transformed into a scare maze. Black tarps were hung up against the walls and used to section the room, giving it a bigger feeling and darkening the space.
“For the maze, we used tarps to create it. We transformed the ASB room into a maze and used some of our fellow ASB members as scare actors,” sophomore Samantha Mendoza said.
Walkways had minimal light, and scare actors (dressed up ASB students) were placed methodically between open paths. Some of the scarers stayed still, staring at their victims, while others walked close by, rattling shakers to unsettle them. The scarers waited for unsuspecting students to walk through the door and did not stop until they reached the other side. That night, there was a debate on how scary the maze actually was.
Junior Yejin Chi shared her experience with the maze.
“We liked it! It was so scary, my friend almost died because they were so scared,” Chi said.
With a contrasting perspective, senior Sophia Salinas disagreed with the maze being scary.
“To be honest, I didn’t think it was that scary. I kind of knew everybody in there, but maybe the little kids will get scared,” Salinas said.
Another activity that created a long line was the photobooth. Similarly, the facepainting booth was also popular. Students could choose from a binder of photos what to get painted on them by ASB students.
Overall, the Pumpkin Bash received mixed reviews from students. Lots of the students enjoyed the environment, but disagreed about the pricing of activities.
“To be honest, I thought it was a little bit expensive, especially since the venue didn’t accept any cards and you had to pay fully in cash,” Chi said.
Many reaffirmed that if another Pumpkin Bash was to be planned in the future, they would hope for reduced prices.
“Maybe, if possible, their prices [could] come down,” Cornett said.
The freshman and sophomore ASB students were given the task to plan this year’s Pumpkin Bash, putting it together a few months ahead. During planning, the students contacted vendors, rented inflatable games, and advertised on the Bulletin and the ASB Instagram account. All of the money made for the event went to ASB funding for future activities.
