Decas students decorate dazzling pumpkins

Nov 1, 2021

Students at the John W. Decas Elementary School got to visit a sweet gallery of pumpkins they’d decorated to look like their favorite fictional characters on Friday afternoon, even though school hadn’t met that day. 

“Look at all these great pumpkins!” exclaimed Principal Bethany Chandler. She said that she wanted to make sure students and their families were able to celebrate the kids’ excellent work. 

“A lot of students were very creative,” said Charlie Avila, a Minot Forest student who was helping out at the event. Avila said that many students, parents and staff members came to the event — some in costume.

Ava Locurto, a first grader, made a pumpkin based on her favorite book, titled “Bedtime Snuggles.” 

She painted the pumpkin green like grass and created a cozy bed on top for bunnies — some homemade — that represent her family. The bed even had a tiny homemade pillow.

“Bunnies are my favorite animal,” Locurto said.

Some students’ pumpkins were based on characters they created. 

One spooky spider with four eyes and a wide smile, created by kindergarten student Santo F., was named Webz. According to a short story Santo wrote, Webz lives in an abandoned house with his siblings, John and Twinkle. He loves to eat bugs, especially flies.

Popie, a pumpkin painted by first grader Anna Laporte, loves Halloween. 

“Most trolls do,” explained the card introducing Popie.

Serenity Rideout’s tiny pumpkin had a scared look on its face. Her “shrunken pumpkin” came with a story, explaining that pumpkins shrink when they get scared.

“I planned to carve my pumpkin last night but when I went to grab it, it screamed and started spinning,” Rideout wrote. “It spun off the counter and when it landed, it was a shrunken pumpkin, so I drew a face instead.”