Rhodian Pedia High School celebrates Halloween
By Frances Boniface, English Teacher
Inspired by the horror film classic, ‘The Shining’ (1980, director Stanley Kubrick), Rodion Pedia’s High School teachers set out to terrify with their costumes this Halloween. Based on a best-selling book by Stephen King, ‘The Shining’ tells the story of a man who takes on a caretaking job at a deserted hotel where he is accompanied by his wife and young son. Mr. Peter Alatsas gave a believable impersonation of a crazed man while Ms. Rania Angelis, armed with a baseball bat, looked suitably petrified. Ms. Lynne Simeonidi and Ms. Frances Boniface dressed up as the spooky incarnation of two of the hotel’s malevolent ghosts: ‘Come and play with us… Come and play with us forever.’
As part of our commitment to teaching students about the cultural aspects of learning English as well as the purely linguistic, this spooky theme continued into the classroom where lessons were devoted to the topic of Halloween. Through videos and electronic worksheets, different classes were taught age-appropriate material all connected to Halloween and/or the scary. A Gymnasio were taught about the origins of Halloween. Although many people assume it is an American celebration, it started as the ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain which was always held on October 31st. This was the eve of the Christian All Souls’ Day and where the name comes from (All Hallows Eve). People dressed up, wore masks and lit bonfires to ward off evil spirits.
Other topics covered by classes included the psychology of fear, why we like being scared (G Gymnasio) and the issue of postmortem photography in Victorian times (A Lykeio). The CLIL lessons were a great success for both students and teachers alike.
