With Halloween approaching, the Starr’s Mill High School Panther family is gearing up for October 31. Yesterday evening, Starr’s Mill held its fifth annual Trunk or Treat for families in the community. 

The event was organized by the Starr’s Mill High School Student Athletic Advisory Board, and it took place in the faculty parking lot, just as it has years prior. Clubs, sports teams, and faculty all gathered together to hand out candy to children and offer games and competitions to celebrate. 

After the event wrapped up, students were encouraged to walk the Technology Student Association’s Haunted Trail. The trail opened up on October 18 and closed last night on October 28. This was TSA’s third year running the Haunted Trail. The trail has improved each year with its technology, advertising, and, most importantly, the scarers themselves. 

“There’s one [character] specifically, and the scare actor kind of changes night from night, but we give him a Jason mask and a chainsaw, and they have full free reign to just like ‘wirr’ it up and go start spooking everyone else,” TSA reporter and two-time Georgia TSA state officer sophomore Liam Bell said. “It’s really fun, and it’s always the one that gets the most screams out of people, so I really like seeing that.”

TSA receives no donations for the Haunted Trail prior to the profit they make during the event, so all of the decorations are purchased by Bell’s family. Although the proceeds from the event go to funding the club putting it on, preparing for the Haunted Trail also extends to Starr’s Mill engineering classes. 

“In our engineering class, I personally did the electronics for the electric chair, especially the sound effects,” TSA secretary and junior Michael Panait said. “I also helped build some of the hideaway walls. Basically, these are flats with panels that scare actors can remove so they can jump-scare people in the dark.” 

Panait, alongside other students in the third year of the engineering pathway, have been working on the Haunted Trail since early September. The engineering course is taught by AP Computer Science teacher and TSA club sponsor Rob Bell. 

Despite all of the Halloween festivities this week, the Starr’s Mill Panthers are not done dressing up just yet. Tomorrow evening, varsity football hosts Jonesboro in their last home game before playoffs. It is also the team’s Senior Night. The Panthers will be playing after a 28-21 win against Northside on October 16.

The dress-up theme for tomorrow’s game is “Costumes” and the student section is sure to be a motley of fun outfits. 

Make sure to wear your spookiest costume to come out and support your Panthers, and remember to be safe and take care of yourself on Halloween night!