It was the night before Halloween, the parking lot was full, but instead of cars fighting to get out of the lot, club members have parked their decorated cars, ranging from Harry Potter to Candyland to a tech deck skatepark. On Oct. 30, the inaugural school- sponsored Trunk-or-Treat took place. 

“It’s just great to provide kids candy,” Entrepreneurship Club senior Thomas Russell said. “Being able to see them happy, it’s just a great night out.”

In previous years, the Trunk-or-Treat event has been run by Best Buddies exclusively for ESE students. This is the first year where, along with Best Buddies having their event, the school held their own Trunk-or-Treat which was open to everyone, regardless if those attending were students or not. Elementary schools that feed into Hagerty were invited to attend the event.

The event lasted from 5-7 p.m. with preparation beginning even earlier. Students were incentivized to participate by having the event count as volunteer hours for Bright Futures. The volunteer hours varied for each club.

While there were not any games or activities for the trick-or-treaters to play, the students made it more entertaining by dressing up with their theme. The trick-or-treaters were able to make their own fun too, like two dinosaurs chasing each other across the lot and interacting with each club.

Every trunk’s theme was wildly different. Student government’s trunk was decked out with Harry Potter designs with the sorting hat and a pennant of each Hogwarts house. One of the many National Science Honor Society trunks was designed as a Jurassic World car with a triceratops skull inside the jungle.

“I wanted something that was a little bit science-y and I know little kids love dinosaurs,” junior Madalynn Flynn said. “I also love the movie so I thought it would be something I could do easily.”

The event was able to give an experience that is unique to all and is quite different from the usual going up to houses to get candy. It provided the opportunity for everyone to get a chance at enjoying some kind of Halloween, even if they could not do anything on the actual holiday.

“That’s part of the fun, the creativity, you know, you just got to think a little deeper than just lab coats. It’s more entertaining for the kids,” junior Sam Schultz said.