This year at the Haunted Homecoming dance, on Oct. 21, the Engineering Club will be building a haunted house in the upper mezzanine of the gym. This experience will be included in the Homecoming Dance ticket.
An engineering student cutting a board with a saw.
Once Student Government students decided on the homecoming theme at the end of the 2022 – 2023 school year, these motivated engineering students got to work right away. Peter Policke, DeLand High’s CTE Engineering teacher, said, “We actually started this last year…they (students) started right away at our first club meeting and have been working since.”
The club has over 20 students putting in 3-4 hours every week to cut, paint and prep so they can build the structure in the gym during the week before homecoming.
All of the preparations for this project have been done in Policke’s classroom. He and the students will start transporting, setting up and decorating starting Oct. 16. Asael Bravo, a student in Engineering Club says his favorite part of assembling this project was hanging out and working with his friends.
The costly price of this project has not stopped these determined students. The club has spent over $3,000 on materials and supplies. They have used a lot of wood, paint, and duct tape to put this house together.
Engineering students working outside behind Policke's classroom.
The students presented the design plans to Mendi Camacho, sponsor of Student Government, and Mr. D, our principal. They have supported the Haunted house every step of the way.
With the theme of this house being classic horror films, there are many different scary rooms to trudge through. Engineering Club president, Tim Breidigam, said “watching all the aspects of this haunted house coming together and working as different teams for each room, but also together as a whole group” has been one of his favorite parts of this project.
Policke and the Engineering Club wants to give shoutouts to Mr. Hamilton and Bulldog Construction for providing the wood and tools, Ms. Sejansky and Hill Street Theatre for providing props and furniture, Ms. Camacho and SGA for providing props and costumes, Mr. Tate and Mr. Brandner for providing props.
Photos courtesy of Peter Policke
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