A 10-year-old girl’s enthusiasm for Halloween continues to shine bright after she successfully championed for Halloween costumes in the classroom.
In previous years, Kristen Hill’s family had lived abroad in Perth, Australia and Beijing, China where Halloween was not celebrated.
“The teachers (overseas) kept telling my daughter you can’t wear costumes because, obviously, we don’t celebrate here,” said Sharon Hill. “When you go back to North America you can enjoy Halloween and everything that goes along with it.”
“She’s always associated Halloween with a Canadian tradition.”
A move to Calgary had the young girl chomping at the bit to experience the festivities firsthand.
“I basically love everything about Halloween!” exclaimed Kristen.
Kristen attends Our Lady of Grace elementary school, which recently opened in Evanston, where a proposal was recently made to do away with all things Halloween in favour of an ‘Orange and Black’ day.
“I felt disappointed,” said Kristen. “Halloween is something big to all kids. You get candy. You get all these nice tricks and treats.”
“I said ‘Mom, let’s fight for it’!”
Kristen was not a fan of the proposed change and penned a letter to her homeroom teacher affirming her stance.
I think we should dress up in costumes for Halloween. The reasons are it is part of Canadian culture and it is called All Saints Eve. It brings out creativity and imagination in children.
We should dress up for Halloween. Halloween has been celebrated in North America since the 19th century. There are many different cultures and immigrants. They should learn about Canadian culture and traditions.
Halloween has a Christian influence. Halloween is the evening before the Christian holy days of All Saints Day. All Saints Eve, a Christian festival in honour of all the saints.
It makes children more creative and opens their imagination. Halloween is the only time of year you can dress up as what you want to be. When you grow up, you can make your own costume. I think it’s important to dress up in costumes for Halloween. You can even dress up as saints.
From,
Kristen Hill
Kristen said her teacher was startled to receive the letter saying ‘I didn’t ask you to do this’. The teacher said he would bring the letter to the school’s principal. Kristen’s note made its way through the faculty and a decision was made to introduce Halloween to Our Lady of Grace.
When asked how she feels about being permitted to wear a costume to school, the 10-year-old said “Like I have a right and I have my privileges.”
“If you don’t fight for what you want, you don’t get that privilege or independence.”
Kristen will walk the halls of Our Lady of Grace on Monday dressed as “Mulan from the movie Mulan”.
According to the Calgary Board of Education and the Calgary Catholic School Division, individual schools choose whether or not Halloween is celebrated but there are stipulations restricting costumes that limit mobility or are deemed unacceptable for school.
On Thursday evening, the Catholic School Board contacted CTV Calgary and said that Kristen's letter did not have any bearing on her school's decision to allow costumes to be worn at the school.
The board said that the decision was made in the best interest of the school community.
With files from CTV's Jamie Mauracher
