Students participated in the pumpkin carving contest and cheered on their classmates in front of Manzanita Hall during long lunch on Oct. 29. The juniors and seniors tied for first, the sophomores came in second place and the frosh in third place.
The seniors carved their pumpkin to the theme “Locked in,” with smaller pumpkins trapped inside a jail. The juniors’ pumpkin was shaped like a carriage, with one small white pumpkin within, another mounted on the stem and another white pumpkins for the wheels.
“Our pumpkin showcases the four pillars of Harker in terms of integrity, personal accountability, respect and kindness,” Class of 2026 dean Meredith Cranston said. “I think we got it in the bag. As you move from design to function, you have to make some changes, and they’ve done that seamlessly and collaboratively and I’m just so impressed with them.”
The sophomores created “Donald the Pluhmpkin,” a nod to both Donald Duck and their class mascot, Pluh the Duck. On the front of their pumpkin, the frosh cut out a conventional jack-o’-lantern scary face, and wrote “2028,” decorated with shooting stars, on the back.
Frosh Annie Yu, one of the main designers of the frosh’s pumpkin, described the intention behind their carving.
“I chose this design specifically because it looked really cool, and it also represents our cohesiveness as a class,” Annie said. “The back represents our willingness to come together, to collaborate and make something, and generally how spirited we are.”
Throughout the 70-minute time frame, each class faced challenges when trying to carve their pumpkins. Instead of having their own set of tools, the grades had to share materials, with the sophomores and frosh specifically struggling with sharing the single scraper.
Sophomore Lana Tariq reflected upon her class’ teamwork and unity while carving their pumpkin.
“It was really good for our class bonding,” Lana said. “I talked to a lot of people I’ve never talked to before, and I got to work together with people I wouldn’t normally work with. This whole experience was super fun and super chaotic.”
Prior to the contest, each grade’s Student Activties Board and HSLT members traveled to Spina Farms Pumpkin Patch to pick out their pumpkins.
Junior Nikhil Sharma applauded his class’ teamwork and camaraderie during the event, observing how the pumpkin carvers were able to successfully work together to create something authentic.
“Today’s collaboration and our pumpkin carving went really well,” Nikhil said. “We were all focused and driven, and we bounced off each other really well—the dynamic was great.”