Friday, October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween!

The History of Halloween



On This Site
The First Trick-Or-Treaters
The Story of the Jack-o-Lantern
 
 
 
 
Halloween is not exactly a typical holiday. Other holidays, like Christmas, celebrate an event. Halloween celebrates a lot of things, including the lives of people who aren't with us anymore. The history of Halloween is not entirely a clear one.


Here's how (we think) it started:
Many hundreds of years ago, a people called the Celts lived in Europe and on the British Isles.  The Celts believed that the souls of the dead visited Earth on the last day of October.  They had a festival in honor of these souls of the dead, and they called it Samhain.   In time, the Roman Empire conquered the Celts and took over some of their beliefs as well.  This included Samhain.  The Romans combined it with their own festivals.  And since the Roman Empire spread across a great part of the known world, the idea that the souls of the dead visited Earth on the last day of October spread far and wide.   Many ideas from the Roman days still survive in the United States and in other Western countries.  Halloween is one of them.

But how did we get the name Halloween? In the 8th Century, the Catholic Church declared November 1 to be All Saints' Day. The church calendar had a number of days honoring saints already. November 1 was picked to be the day to honor all saints who didn't already have a day named in their honor.   And the mass that the Catholic Church celebrated on November 1 was called Allhallowmas. This meant "mass of all the hallowed [saintly people]."  It was commonly called "All Hallows' Day."  And somewhere along the line, the night before became known as Allhallowe'en, which was short for "evening before All Hallows' Day." It was then shortened to what we now call it, Halloween.

One last question: Why do people dress up as ghosts, goblins, vampires, and other scary creatures? The people who started all this Halloween business many years ago believed that if they appeared scary, they would scare away the spirits of the dead who were roaming the earth on All Hallows' Eve. These people also carried food (a treat) to the edge of town and left it there, hoping the spirits would eat that food and not come raid (trick) the village.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Don't Forget!


MATH NIGHT IS TONIGHT AT CSMS!
 
LET’S HAVE FUN ON MATH NIGHT.
WEAR YOUR HALLOWEEN COSTUME!
 
Come tonight,
October 28th, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
to the CSMS cafeteria to participate in this event.
 
CSMS Math Carnival is in town,
a night of games, probability, technology, prizes, and snacks.
Come and play some of your favorite games such as Fraction Bingo, Reflex Race-Off, Spin the Big Wheel, Blackjack Attack, Integer War, and even win in the Cakewalk Extravaganza!
 
Come have a blast as you study mathematics in gaming and how fun it is to study the Common Core Math Standards.
 
There is something for everyone!!
All parents and students of CSMS are invited to attend.
 


Thursday, October 23, 2014

Red Ribbon Week

 
 
 
"Love Yourself: Be Drug Free"
 
Red Ribbon Week October 27th-31st.
 
 
Students can dress up on the following days:
  • Monday - Crazy Hair/Hat Day - "Put a Cap on Drugs"
  • Tuesday - Pajama Day - "Follow Your Dreams and Don't Do Drugs"
  • Wednesday - Twinkies (dress alike) - "Team up Against Drugs"
  • Thursday - Camo Day - "Join the Fight Against Drugs"
  • Friday - Wampus Cat - "PAWs-itively Drug Free"
    • There will be a photo booth Wednesday and Thursday during lunch. Pictures are .50 each.
    • Candy grams will be sold Tuesday and Wednesday during lunch for .25. Send them to your friends or someone you admire. They will be delivered on Friday, October 31st during 8th period.
    • Thursday we will have tug-a-war during lunch activity time.


 


Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Report Cards


 
Report Cards were sent home
 
Tuesday afternoon, October 21, 2014!