When English teacher Elizabeth Kamerzel entered the Halloween teacher costume contest during her first year at GWUOHS, she expected nothing beyond a simple reminiscence of her childhood love for dressing up. However, when she won the contest and received an overwhelmingly positive response, Kamerzel began putting tremendous effort into her costumes. Having continued to win every year since then, the contest became an annual tradition for Kamerzel that she spent the entire year preparing for.
“I [had] people to show this to, aside from just the neighborhood. I wanted to do a really, really good job.”
Putting meticulous effort into her plans, Kamerzel carefully selected characters whom she could effectively depict.
“I have to keep in mind: who can I make myself look like? Like, at the time of Amelia Earhart, my hair was quite short, and she had very short, cropped hair,” she explained, referring to her costume from last year.
Kamerzel also placed high importance on capturing photographs of her costume with a relevant and realistic background.
“I drove all the way to an aviation museum in Dallas where they have planes similar to the kind [Amelia Earhart] used,” she recollected.
For this year’s contest, Kamerzel did a couples costume with her significant other, in which they dressed up as Marion Ravenwood and Indiana Jones. Kamerzel admitted that she certainly did not expect to win this time.
“This year, we were really stumped. The most prominent scenes that Marion is in with Indiana are in desert areas. [We] just [did] our best to try and mimic the poses of the characters.”
Although she ended up winning, Kamerzel shared that she was not satisfied with how her costume turned out.
“I would love a do-over,” she stated.
Kamerzel hoped that the reason so many people vote for her each year is because they appreciate her effort.
“I would like to think it’s because they can see how much I love it and that I do put a lot of work into it,” she said.
Sophomore Eva S. confirmed this hope of Kamerzel’s.
“I believe that Ms. K deserved to win the costume contest because in every year that she has won, she has chosen to represent important figures such as Joan of Arc and Amelia Earhart,” she noted.
Eva additionally pointed out that Kamerzel’s general personality as a teacher could have also helped her win.
“In anything Ms. K does, whether it’s our live classes or the Halloween costume contest, she brings the aspects of fun and learning to everything and never fails to go above and beyond.”
Kamerzel is already preparing for her next Halloween costume.
“I have another historical figure in mind for next year,” she disclosed. “And I’m already starting to plan her, because hopefully it will be major. I can’t say more than that.”
