’We need to have a little bit of fun’: Local schools celebrate distanced Halloween

Sonoma County students dressed as ninjas, witches, dinosaurs and more received a much needed dose of Halloween fun Friday as several schools celebrated the holiday with COVID-conscious drive-thru events.

Among the schools that participated was Rohnert Park’s Evergreen Elementary School, where Halloween tunes such as “Monster Mash” and “Thriller” blared from a pair of speakers stationed on the school’s front lawn.

Costumed staff danced and waived at passing students from the sidewalk and handed them treat-filled bags before they zoomed away. Staff wore face masks, as did many of the students and parents who came to visit them.

Several parents said the event was the first time their children were interacting with their teachers and classmates in person this school year.

“They’re getting their work done, they are learning but they don’t get to enjoy it like they normally do,” said Crystal Chang, who brought her two kids to the school’s drive-thru on Friday, as well as a classmate who is part of the family’s social bubble during the pandemic. “It was exciting to just get them out of the house.”

Staff at Austin Creek Elementary School in eastern Santa Rosa held a similar event Friday morning.

The socially distanced gathering was of special significance for the campus as the Glass fire forced students living in surrounding neighborhoods to evacuate weeks earlier. The blaze managed to destroy some homes in the area before being extinguished, Austin Creek principal Jenny Lynch said.

“There’s some people that are still displaced, that haven’t been back to their neighborhoods,” Lynch said. “Everyone is really craving connections right now.”

Students who participated in the school’s festivities Friday morning were treated to a drive-thru at the school’s parking lot, where teachers gave students candy, glow sticks and other treats as they passed by.

Two photo booth stations captured costumed students from their car windows, Lynch said. She came dressed as a rhinoceros and directed traffic at the entrance of the parking lot as students arrived.

“It was just so nice to see the kids and their parents because they looked so darn happy and they hadn’t even started yet,” Lynch said.

At Bellevue Elementary School just south of the Santa Rosa city limits, Gina Lewis, a third grade teacher, examined the bright-green paper dinosaur scales she and her children had affixed onto her car.

She was part of a cadre of teachers, some retired, and other school staff who were stopping at students’ homes to drop off Halloween treats and to say hello from their cars.

The group then planned to return to the Bellevue Elementary School parking lot to give treats to children who lived outside of the area but who wanted to participate in the event.

“For myself and my students, we need to have a little bit of fun,” said Lewis, who donned a tiara and black feather boa as part of her Fancy Nancy-character costume. “COVID has been hard on us. We wanted to have some sense of normalcy.”

Erin Moore and her daughter, Kaia Terada, a third grader at the school, arrived at the campus early enough to send off the caravan of decorated vehicles. An occupant of one of the cars made sure to throw Terada a handful of chocolate candies before driving away.

“I like watching them go and getting my candy and saying hi” said Terada, who like her mother was dressed as a cat. She played with a gray fuzzy tail that was part of her costume as she spoke.

“It was great!”

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets.