Teachers at MHS pass out a plethora of candy on Halloween for trick or treaters. Many of them hand out fun-sized popular favorites like Snickers, Twix, Smarties, Reese’s, and Nerds.

This is not only because kids enjoy these candies, but also because the buyer saves money purchasing bags of them in bulk. Jen Hyland is the AEP/Gifted Intervention Specialist who generally looks for good deals on candy. She said, “I was able to get two bags last night; it was a buy one get one free at Target so it wasn’t too expensive.”

Not only does Hyland look for deals on candy, she also prefers to buy candy that she and her family would eat if there were any left over. She said, “It’s what my family will eat. I’d rather eat the chocolates than some of the other stuff.”

Kari Beery, an English teacher, also prefers to buy candies that she’d eat if there were leftovers. “Those are my favorites too and if people don’t get those, then I could eat them later!”

Steve Shirey, one of the Math teachers, takes his kids trick or treating for a little bit and gives out the candy they don’t like. He said, “We pass out anything my kids won’t eat that they’ve collected.”

Italian teacher Melissa Fini-Sanson goes to her mom’s house every year for Halloween. She said, “My mom buys every [kind of] candy imaginable cause she gets a lot of trick or treaters.”

What about the kids with allergies? Some teachers just disregard those concerns, but others, like Beery separate candies by their allergens. “I’ll put the suckers in one container and then the chocolates or ones with nuts in another container, so they’re not cross contaminated and children have a choice,” she said.

Shirey is always conscious of the kids with allergies because his son has one himself. He said, “My son has a peanut allergy, so if I know [a kid] has one, I don’t give them the Reese’s. I show them the bowl and let them choose.”

Shirey also lets his kids trick or treat before they pass out candy to others. He said, “We first take [our] kids trick or treating themselves for about half the time and then we come back and pass out candy at that point”

In years past, Beery would leave her candy bowl unattended. She said, “I was one of those people who would attend a party on Halloween and I’d set my bowl of candy out and leave a sign that said ‘please take ONE!’”

After the night is over, Fini-Sanson and her mom both give their leftover candy to people at their work. Fini said, “If it’s like, December and [my mom] still has candy, I’ll bring some to my students… Ma always brings stuff to work, and does like, little Ziploc bags of candy and gives them to her coworkers.”

Shirey also brings leftover candy to school sometimes. He said, “Some of it stays for my family and some of it I bring to school and give it out to motivate students in class.”

Fini and her mom love handing out candy to trick or treaters. They look forward to it every year, and stock up on plenty of sweet treats beforehand. She said, “Mom buys 400 pieces of candy, 7 different types of candy, and gives four to five pieces per kid.