Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy (HBHA) held its annual Purim carnival this past week, celebrating the holiday as a school, complete with bouncy houses, carnival games and prizes.
The Upper School Student Council (STUCO) takes on the planning of it each year.
The carnival takes up almost an entire half day at school, and lower school students visit it in different rotations throughout the day, starting with first grade and kindergarten, then second and third grades, and fourth and fifth grades last.
Ordering decorations, creating games, assigning rotations and physically setting up the carnival are just a few of the to-dos on STUCO’s list. The collective effort the day requires takes months of planning.
“The planning was a new and challenging process,” said Sam Matsil, STUCO advisor. “The leadership team challenged our STUCO members to be creative and overachieve compared to previous years.”
This year, the carnival’s theme was “Passport to Purim” and featured international games, decor and passport stamps instead of the regular ticket system. The games featured international-themed names, and STUCO did its best to incorporate worldly culture into each aspect of the event. For example, students could participate in a “Jeru-slam” pop-a-shot game, a “Turkish Treasure” a prize-finding game, or a “Lake Fishagain” themed ticket-fishing game.
The various games offered to the lower schoolers featured some that are a staple of the carnival every year, like ticket fishing and the prize wheel. Others were new, like a golfing game (complete with a putting green and putters) and a new bouncy house which was so tall that it had to be re-inflated in The J’s main lobby instead of the social hall.
A highlight of the carnival was the haunted house, complete with a set, cast and script put together by the community outreach committee of STUCO. Although there may have been a few younger students left scared and teary-eyed, the impact of the haunted house was enough to convince high school students to try it out, prompting several to crawl through the haunted house “maze” themselves.
The Purim carnival day itself is made to be memorable for many HBHA students, with a morning megillah reading done by Rabbi Beryl Sosover, festive carnival games and early dismissal at 12 p.m.
Most students dress up, with many older girls sporting different onesies this year, and several boys choosing to wear jerseys. The holiday is often a favorite among lower and upper school students alike, and is always a good opportunity for students to dress up and express themselves amongst their classmates.
