Children from all around the northwest Bronx got to attend Kappa Delta Pi’s annual Safe Halloween celebration on Friday, where they could go from room to room to get candy and participate in activities from an array of Manhattan College clubs and students.
Brigid Phelan, president of Kappa Delta Pi, said the education honors society tries to keep MC involved in the community but hosting an array of events for local students.
“Because a lot of our members work in or student teach at the local schools, we like to get involved. For example, we do book drives, Dr. Seuss day, Safe Halloween, and other fun activities that also educate the students at the same time. I love being involved with Safe Halloween because the kids get to come in costume and get excited about the activities on Campus,” said Phelan.
A lot of planning and preparation goes into the event by the Kappa Delta Pi presidents and committees. Each committee has a specific job like fundraising candy donations, or working on campus and community events that publicize both on and off campus. The presidents also help book the rooms and campus organizations who get involved.
Deborah Greenblatt assistant professor of education of education and faculty advisor or Kappa Delta Pi said, “All of our members are involved in one way or another. We have members who bring flyers to the local schools and hand them out to the kids and talk to the principles in order to have the kids come here. This event is the way it is because we wanted to be a part of Manhattan College’s identity so we could match our mission with the school’s mission and we could follow Lasallian values while giving back to the community.”
Organizations from all backgrounds on campus get involved allowing Safe Halloween to run smoothly. Without the participation from the clubs and sports teams here on campus, Safe Halloween would not be as successful as it is.
“Safe Halloween reminds of the Lasallian value of having an inclusive community. We are all very lucky to call Riverdale our shared home,” said Siobhan Noon of Singers. “This is a special way of giving back to this community by providing a safe and fun environment for kids and parents to get into the spirit of Halloween. Manhattan College Singers proudly participates in Safe Halloween every year.”
Each organization has a theme for their assigned room. This year Kappa Delta Pi’s theme was super heroes because they wanted the kids to see that teachers are super heroes too and not all heroes wear capes.
Some clubs use Safe Halloween to promote their mission by incorporating it in the activities they set up for the kids.
Christopher Dusovic, president of Engineering Ambassadors said, “Engineering Ambassadors has a cool demonstration with oobleck material, which is basically corn starch and water, for the kids to play with. It is a good introduction to science for little kids, especially at their age because we want to spark some interest to pursue science while they are in school and be opened to engineering.”
Other clubs use Safe Halloween to promote awareness about important topics and issues in a child-friendly way. Having the children talk about important issues from a young age could help shape their future.
“This year Green Club wanted to raise awareness about Bumble bees because it is becoming more and more prevalent that they are on the verge of extinction. We have the kids making Bumble Bee arts and crafts out of recycled materials and at the same time we are adding facts on the bumble bees for the kids to know,” said Daniel Aguirre vice president of Green Club.