Spooky Obstacle Course

For the week before Halloween, the Kent Primary School gymnasium becomes a Spooky Obstacle Course. The gym is set up with inflatable monsters, Minions, tunnels, ghosts and more.

With all the laughter and excitement in the gym, it might have been hard to tell that there was real skill-building going on. But learning while having fun was just the point.

“The students learned to navigate the obstacle course using physical skills like over, under through, in and out,” said Physical Education Teacher Rochelle Lhotan. “It also helps them learn to follow rules. They know to take one swing and stop, climb in and out of the donut and crawl like a puppy dog through the tunnel.”

It’s hard to beat the feeling of flying through the air.  

“I liked the Lava Jump,” said Cooper, a kindergartner in Jennifer Byrd’s class. “It’s so much fun. When I landed on the mattress, I did a flip.”  

“I liked the Frankenstein Tower,” said classmate Samaia. “You get to jump.”

The Spooky Obstacle Course is a decades-long tradition started by Paul Hagan, the now-retired lead Physical Education teacher at the school, and carried on by Lhotan and Physical Education Teacher Brendan Connolly. 

Every year, they add something new. This year, the teachers added hoops for the students to practice making themselves smaller to fit through, without knocking the hoops over.

The teachers get help from Officer Tom Lewis, the School Resource Officer.

“I do it every year, I like to help out,” said Lewis, whom the students call ‘Officer Tom.’ “It’s also a way for me to get to know the kindergartners’ names.”

Hagan returns every year to help set up the course, Lhotan said.

“We teach the classes outside while he sets up,” Lhotan said. “He comes back and helps a lot. He works as a substitute when we need him. Teachers here are dedicated to the school and the community. They never want to leave.”