Orange mush and flying pumpkin seeds marked the fifth time the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority volunteered to carve pumpkins with bright-eyed elementary children.
On Monday, Alpha Tau Omega fraternity joined the sorority at Red Cedar Elementary, 1110 Narcissus St., to have some Halloween fun with Sandy Gebber’s fifth-grade class.
Public administration and policy junior Kim Brosky, philanthropy chairwoman of Kappa Alpha Theta, said the sorority carves pumpkins with the fifth-graders because it’s their last year at the elementary school.
“It’s a nice present for them,” she said. “We bring in candy, pop and music because some families can’t afford to celebrate Halloween this way.”
The elementary students said they enjoyed carving 44 pumpkins, in the school gym, donated by Meijer, 2055 W. Grand River Ave., in Okemos.
For some, carving pumpkins was a new experience.
Gebber said Halloween is a new holiday for many children because their parents are faculty and students at MSU from other countries.
“There are children here from all over the world that have never participated in Halloween before,” she said.
Gebber said it’s wonderful the sorority and fraternity volunteered time to act as role models to her students.
“I think if more young adults helped young children, the world would be a better place,” she said.
For Samantha De la Cruz, 11, it was her first time carving pumpkins. She said she had fun carving them with the college students.
“I tried to make my pumpkins scary, because it’s Halloween so it’s supposed to be a scary night,” she said.
Samantha said she was thankful for college students coming to help her class.
“It’s not really hard carving pumpkins, but I got to meet them,” she said.
Ziyan Wang, 10, said carving pumpkins at school made him even more excited for Halloween night.
“I like the slimy insides of the pumpkins,” he said.
Ziyan decided to make his pumpkin look half-scary and half-funny so people could look at his pumpkin and laugh or be scared.
Elementary education junior Lauren Grimm said she liked working with the kids because of the interaction.
“I think it’s good to get college girls and guys together to work with the kids so they don’t have to work with adults all the time,” she said. “The whole thing is really fun, and I know they love it too.”
