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It took portions of four days and much ingenuity for Freddi Mahalick-Jaskot to transform herself into an evil jack in the box.
It was time well spent. Mahalick-Jackson’s effort earned her the most creative prize in Boonton High School’s 2025 Halloween Costume Contest.
She received her inspiration from a 2019 movie about the toy that springs out of a box. Mahalick-Jaskot then logged into Pinterest to get more ideas.
“I’m a big fan of Halloween,” Mahalick-Jaskot said. “I like making costumes and getting candy as well. The costumes are really the most awesome.”
Mahalick-Jaskot, Class of 2027, estimates she spent about 12 hours to build her Jaskot in the box. She used an old bedsheet to make the curtains around the sides. She cut pants and a shirt down the middle and sewed them back together to make the two-color outfit.
Finally, Mahalick-Jaskot made a jester-type hat and completed the costume with bells from Dollar Tree.
In previous years, she dressed up as a gypsy and a lightning bug.
Senior Jimmy Cunningham was Pennywise from “It.” He received recognition as scariest.
“I like the movie “It” but it’s not my favorite,” Cunningham said. “I like dressing up.”
Last year, Cunningham was the Joker from “Batman” and took most creative. As a freshman, he was a scarecrow. Each year, his mother did his makeup.
Winners of the pumpkin contest were announced earlier in the day on Halloween.
Miki Sakamoto gained top student honors with her creation titled “Pibble.” Second place went to Riley Wendt whose pumpkin was painted with “Five Nights at Freddy’s.” The third-place prize was taken by Jack McLaughlin with “Root Beer Fright.”
Wendt chose “Five Nights at Freddy’s” because it’s “pretty nostalgic” for her. There were several other reasons, too.
“I’ve been a fan since I was pretty young,” Wendt said. “Also, it’s been gaining in popularity recently so I thought some people would like it, not to mention a new movie is coming out in December for ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ so that also helped drive me.”
Painting the pumpkin took a portion of four days. Of course, Wendt worked on it at night…
“The pumpkin has three (painted) sides so each side took one night each,” she noted.
Being among the top three was a source of satisfaction for Wendt, who took part last year but didn’t place in the top three.
“Winning this year really lifted my spirits… I thought the competition was fun,” Wendt said. “Submitting an entry with my friends is always fun because I love seeing everyone be so creative. I wish more people would participate. Hopefully, we inspired some newcomers to participate next year.”
In the teachers’ division, Ms. Oliveri topped the contestants with “Dad Jokes,” a pumpkin featuring a painting of Mr. Klebez. Second and third place, respectively, were the works of Ms. Angelillo (“Labubu”) and Ms. Tambakis (“Bullwinkle”).
Mr. Del Guercio, a chemistry teacher, did his annual exploding pumpkin demonstration four times on Halloween before classrooms packed with students.
“It’s based on a combustion reaction of a flammable substance,” Del Guercio explained. “It’s calcium carbide, which produces acetylene. It’s what miners used in underground mines.”
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