On Halloween “Eve,” October 30, Archbishop Carroll’s 12th grade theology students hosted Trunk or Treat for their friends at St. Katherine’s Day School, which shares Carroll’s building and serves students with special needs.
Trunk or Treat, a modern take on traditional trick-or-treating, involves students decorating their cars and distributing candy from the trunks of their cars, parked in the Carroll parking lot, in a controlled and safe environment.
Senior Theology teacher Mr. Louis Valenti said that the idea of involving his 12th grade theology classes in Trunk or Treat took root last year, when his classes took over the annual event that had been organized previously by Best Buddies, an extracurricular student club in which Carroll students and St. Katherine’s students socialize. Volunteers from Mr. Valenti’s theology classes decorated their cars and volunteered their creativity and time to the event.
“Interacting with the St. Katherine’s kids was honestly refreshing because they are so genuine and so fun to be around,” said senior Jocelyn Welsh.
The most significant effect of the event is the happiness it brings to St. Katherine’s students, according to Mr. Valenti. St. Katherine’s students are some of the best individuals on Carroll’s campus, Mr. Valenti said.
“They are some of the best people that we have here and they show forth the love of God and love of a neighbor really that we should all have,” said Mr. Valenti, “They are a great example to us and so I think that anything that my students can do to make them happy is tremendous.”
Reflecting on this year’s Trunk or Treat, Mr. Valenti said it was a great success, contrasting it with the challenges faced during last year’s rain-dampened festivities.
The highlight was the vibrant array of costumes, including a banana, peanut butter jelly dancers, a teddy bear, a Power Ranger, two tigers, a platypus, and even a rock star—complete with a mohawk, added senior Grace Brogan.
“I enjoyed the costumes from both the St. Katherine’s kids as well as my classmates at Carroll who participated this year,” said Brogan.
Looking ahead, Mr. Valenti said he hopes to replicate the success and joy experienced in the current year.
