A chicken, a rooster, a sumo wrestler, a panda, a frog, a pig, a T-Rex, an eagle, a cow, and an alien walk into Malden High School’s courtyard: What do you do? Obviously, watch them fight.
On Friday, October 30th, students walked into the high school expecting a normal day, but everything changed with a single sound—a chicken’s shriek. They had returned, and this time, they brought their friends. But who are they?
Let’s backtrack three years to when senior Logan O’Connor arrived at school in an inflatable chicken costume to revive the Halloween spirit. “Sophomore year, I started wearing the costume and playing music after hearing someone had worn an inflatable potato costume freshman year,” shared O’Connor. After seeing the students’ amusement, he thought to keep the tradition alive his junior year, but expressed “wanting to do something more.”
That was the catalyst for the inflatable rooster adorned by senior Conner Schopp. The two friends believed it would be funny to engage in a mock Chicken vs. Rooster fight in the courtyard during lunch. What started as a joke would soon go viral on TikTok with more than 2.3 million views.
O’Connor claimed he was “so happy” finding out about the video that he “watched it for days watching the view count climb.”
Besides creating a fierce rivalry with Schopp over a bag of chips, O’Connor snuck 150 squeaky chickens into school and handed them out. He recalled that the “idea of the chickens” originated with his mom, but since his dad thought “it was a bad idea,” he had to sneak the rubber toys in “over the span of a week” and hide them in a locker.
The squeaky chickens would end up being handed out before the first period ended, so the two decided to purchase a thousand this year.
O’Connor detailed that “the original plan to fix the chicken shortage” was to purchase a thousand, and then create a “GoFundMe to try and raise enough money for another thousand, so all two thousand students in the school could receive a chicken.” Unfortunately, the GoFundMe idea fell through.
Since this year is O’Connor and Schopp’s last, they wanted to go out with a blast and recruited other inflatable animals to participate in their tradition. They had the “idea of running a WWE-style fight,” where “multiple fights” would occur through lunch, stated O’Connor.
Principal Michael Sabin stated that when he “first heard of the proposal for an inflated costume fight in the courtyard,” he thought it to be one of the “worst” and “absurd ideas” that he had “received in 20 years as principal.” However, he admitted that he “was impressed that student spectators handled the whole thing pretty well, had a few laughs, and did not get overexcited or inappropriate.”
Last year, Brunelli House Principal Jean Edwald Charles, dressed up as Bill Nye the Science Guy, happened to hear the commotion in the courtyard and went over to make sure everyone was safe. Hilariously, Charles coined the name “mad scientist referee” among viewers online.
While Charles did return to maintain a safe environment, the fight was refereed by someone else—the legendary singer Michael Jackson. Costumed by senior Nicholas Danger Taylor, Michael Jackson would count down from three, after which the fighters would deliver their dangerously soft jabs.
The WWE match began with the prehistoric T-Rex, costumed by junior Cortez Thou, against the Bald Eagle, costumed by junior Julian Jean Gilles. The two marched menacingly toward each other, waiting for the referee to count down to one. As Michael Jackson gave the signal, both fighters displayed their friendly ire, with the T-Rex playfully going for the Bald Eagle’s neck at one point.
“The fights were really entertaining to watch, especially since it was a stressful last week of the quarter. I went to a different school before, and we didn’t have fun annual traditions such as these. I think that is what sets Malden High apart from other schools; it is our sense of community,” voiced junior Maria Eduarda Candido.
The second round showcased the skills of the Panda, costumed by senior Jeremiah Johnson, and the Sumo wrestler, costumed by senior Thomas Darcy-Sillari. The Panda and the Sumo wrestler fought neck-and-neck, inciting students to cheer loudly for one or the other.
Junior Ella Wong remarked that fights “were cinematic with the autumn leaves,” cascading around the courtyard.
In the third round, students would witness a clash between the Pig, costumed by senior Ashley Saint Vi, and the Frog, costumed by senior Ziayla West Maxwell. The fourth round would star the Alien, costumed by senior Lucas Baptista, and the Cow, costumed by senior Jose Ramirez Pool.
Baptista shared that he participated in the fights “to bring back the Halloween school spirit.”
The last round was fought between the long-awaited, infamous inflatable birds—the Chicken and the Rooster. O’Connor and Schopp demonstrated their passion for the tradition through their intense, yet silly, fight.
Although O’Connor and Schopp’s rounds of the costume fight have come to an end, the lively atmosphere brought to Malden High during Halloween week is sure to live in students’ memories.
“As much as I think it would be fun to continue the tradition, I’d rather it end with me because it was my thing with my friends. How many years of the tradition before it gets to a point where the people who started it are forgotten?” concluded O’Connor.
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