On Friday, Nov. 1, physics students dressed in their finest Halloween attire and made their way to the softball field to allow their hard work on their trebuchets to be put on display. Trebuchet Day is highly anticipated every year, along with the accompanying Halloween pep rally that occurs in the afternoon. 

Students are given many weeks to prepare for the big day. Whether during CavBlock, or working hard after school, it was crucial that the project got done by their set deadline. 

“[We] had about six weeks or seven weeks to build the trebuchet,” said Cayden Plummer ‘21. “For the first five [weeks], we met on weekends. Towards the end, we started meeting frequently…just to finish everything up.”

On Trebuchet Day, students of all kinds go outside to watch the fun unfold. Many teachers bring their students outside to learn about the physics of the trebuchets and potentially inspire the inner physicists within them. “It helps make it more of a community event,” said physics teacher, Eric Perry. “It’s kind of a unique HB tradition, [and] it can also give students a good idea of ‘Hey! This is something I love to do in physics!’ and we get people excited about it.”

Many of the students dress up for trebuchet day, and are encouraged by teachers to wear their best Halloween attire. “The best part of Treb Day is seeing everyone dressed up in their costumes and having fun launching their trebuchets,” said Delaney Weimer ‘21. Group costumes are extremely common, especially since there were extra credit points at stake. This year, the costumes were nothing short of creative. The costumes consisted of prisoners to inflatable dinosaur riders, and even Christmas-themed groups.

Physics students were not the only ones dressing up. Students of all grades dressed up in the spirit of the annual Halloween pep rally that was hosted in the afternoon. The pep rally included games like the traditional tug-of-war, musical chairs, and the costume competitions between teachers and students. This pep rally is the final event of the day, which wraps up trebuchet day. 

“I like having both [Trebuchet Day and the Halloween Pep Rally] together. For the people participating in trebuchet, it’s like a really special day…We get to celebrate it with a pep rally [which] is really nice,” said Weimer. “I think it is nice for the people in school [as well] because it adds a little something for them to look forward to.”

With the Halloween festivities wrapped up for this year, students still feel the commotion in the air. A nice break from the standard day of school allowed students feel excitement in dressing up with their friends and letting go of the typical school stress. With everyone in the building having fun, the infectious energy carries throughout the following week.