The National English Honor Society (NEHS) is collecting art supplies until Dec. 6. The club was originally collecting until Nov. 1 but decided to extend the due date after not getting enough donations.   

   A nearby daycare asked for art/fidget related things to entertain students aged 3-5. Some of the things asked for were Play-Dough, washable paint and markers, slime, fidget toys, and other art toys.  

   “They really needed some of [the supplies] especially for some of the more fidgety students and stuff,” Gianna Perugini (‘22), Vice President of NEHS, said.  

   NEHS got the idea when a nearby daycare reached out to Mrs. Gina Schulaski (FAC), the club sponsor.  

   “Mrs. Schulaski was talking to the teachers at the daycare, and they’re talking about how they haven’t received as many donations from parents as they usually do. So, she was asking our club ‘could you maybe do something?’ And we figured that people would be more than willing to help out,” Kole Kemple (‘22), president of NEHS said.  

   This will be NEHS’s second community service project, with the next being a read aloud project to younger grades.  

   “We’re going to go to Dayspring Academy and read to preschool classes and so kids can sign up to go read picture books starting from next week to the end of December,” Kemple said.  

   Doing these drives means a lot to the officers and members in NEHS.  

   “It’s really cool because last year we were only able to do one service project for the whole year. But right now, we’re on track to have done six by the end of this year. I think it offers our club a platform to talk about what we do to other organizations and a local area, and it’s cool to see how much we can raise and how big of an impact we can have on the community,” Kemple said.  

   The club ties each drive and service project back to English.  

   “We’re doing it to promote more English education so they can use the supplies to start drawing their own picture books and their own illustrations for books. So, we always want to make sure our projects tie to English in some way, shape, or form,”  

   Breanna Valentine (‘24) uses money out of her own pocket to do these drives.  

   “My dad pays me for report cards. So, I got $10 for each A, and this really wasn’t a big contribution, but just a little bit I had. So, I gave up my $10 to support this cause which I believe in so heavily,” Valentine said.  

   Doing drives like these not only help those getting the supplies, but also people doing the donating.  

   “It means a lot. I know that I’m helping empower the community and really helping people in the daycare who need it,” Valentine said.  

   Donations from anyone will be appreciated, but they will not be allotted community service hours. Donations go to Mrs. Schulaski, in room 505.

Caption – Breanna Valentine (’24) sorts through the donated art and fidget supplies. “I really enjoyed [donating to this drive]. I feel that helping your community is such a great thing to do,” Valentine said.