Peace Corps volunteer Sara Scholin of Pine City, Minn., recently collaborated with two teachers from the local primary school in her Macedonian community to host a three-day Halloween celebration for nearly 500 students in grades five through eight. During the celebration, students learned about the basic history of Halloween and participated in traditional Halloween activities.
“A few weeks before Halloween, a couple of the seventh-grade girls approached me asking if I could organize something for Halloween,” Scholin said.
Scholin and her fellow teachers decided to host a Halloween bingo competition during the first two nights of the celebration as an interactive way for the students to learn Halloween vocabulary words and practice their English.
“The bingo competition was standing room only,” Scholin said. “More than 175 kids came to play over the course of two days.”
During the final night of the celebration, students joined in a pumpkin-carving contest, costume contest and Halloween parade.
“I was very impressed by the costumes my kids came up with for the contest,” Scholin said. “They don’t really sell Halloween costumes here, so the kids had to be extra creative. The celebration was a success!”
Scholin is a graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., and has been teaching English to primary school students in Macedonia since she was sworn-in as a Peace Corps volunteer in 2011.
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