Nahant students walk to school in spooky fashion

NAHANT — Johnson Elementary School students took to the streets dressed as creepy creatures and familiar pop culture icons for the annual “Spooky Walk to School” Wednesday morning.

Some featured costumes included Marvel superheroes Spider-Man and Iron Man, NBA legend Michael Jordan, and musical artist Taylor Swift.

Kensie Mills, 5, and Whitney Locke, 4, are best friends who dressed up as dogs Bluey and Scooby-Doo, respectively. While Mills asserted that Bluey was her favorite show, Locke’s connection with her character came about differently.

“She’s never seen an episode in her life,” Locke’s mother, Jacky, said about the Scooby-Doo series. “We went to the Halloween store and she was like ‘I want to be the dog.’”

Principal Kevin Andrews, who dressed as a cowboy, said the walk uses the students’ excitement for Halloween to also get them excited about school for that day.

“It really is something that the kids do look forward to, since before I have been here,” Andrews said.

Andrews is no stranger to the practice of a less conventional commute. Now in his eighth year as principal, he rides his bicycle to school every single day.

In addition to the walk to school, Andrews said the school also looks forward to the preschool and kindergarten costume parade on Halloween day.

“The kids dress up and they walk around the school, and the kids that are in the older grades get to see the costumes and celebrate the day,” Andrews explained.