Orthodoxy vs. Halloween

Last week when I picked Ace up from school... Ace: Do you know what we read in school today? Me: No, what? Ace: A HALLOWEEEEEN book. Me (realizing I never told his teacher how we feel about Halloween): You did? Ace: Yup. But I told her that we don't celebrate Halloween. Me: (thinking YES!) You did? What did she say? Ace: She said that's fine. So the other day I received a note asking for volunteers to help carve pumpkins next week. I realized I needed to have this conversation with his teacher a.s.a.p. That afternoon when I went to the school I pulled her to the side and explained to her that he could not participate in the pumpkin carving because as Orthodox Christians we don't celebrate Halloween.She said Ace had already told her and that it wasn't a problem at all. The pumpkins were actually going to be used first as a math project. They were going to clean them out and count the seeds, measure the pulp, etc. Then they were going to carve them after but weren't going to actually light them up or anything.I thanked her for her understanding and told her it was perfectly fine for him to do the math portion of the project but would really appreciate it if she could find something else for him to do while the other kids carved them. Thank God, she was very understanding and said that wouldn't be a problem. I am so fortunate to have him at a school with such accommodating faculty.I hate knowing that Ace might feel "left out" while the other kids are carving but am thankful that he understands why he can't participate. I also know that if he is going to live his life as a true Orthodox Christian, there will be many of these moments and I'm comforted knowing that he is learning this early.What do you guys do in situations like this? Normally, we just go about our business on that day like any other day although we complete our day with a special service either to Sts. Cosmas & Damian who are commemorated Nov.1 or to Sts. Justina & Kypriannos who are patron saints against magic, etc. I think it's important to try to fight all the evil that goes on that night with prayer. I like to believe that the more people who pray that night, the less evil will happen to others.Orthodox Christian Children also have a great number of resources that explain why Halloween and Orthodoxy have no place together. Be sure to check them out here...Also, I posted several different articles, etc on the topic here.*EDITOR'S NOTE: I have removed the link to Bishop Kyrill's article on Halloween because there were several mistranslations therefore making the article not entirely factual.