One of the characteristics of LHS is the events and programs that are created with the idea of community outreach in mind. This is no different for the National Art Honor Society’s (NAHS) annual Night of the Pumpkins (NOTP). Advised by art teacher Michael Kunz, LHS’s chapter of the NAHS is dedicated to bettering the community through the fine arts. These goals are achieved through various auctions, face-painting activities at events throughout the year, and charitable endeavors such as the Night of the Pumpkins.
Every year on the Friday before the Night of the Pumpkins, NAHS members and other students gather in the cafeteria courtyard to hollow out hundreds of pumpkins that were purchased by the NAHS. Familiarly named as “The Hollowing,” the afternoon consists of emptying out pumpkin guts and shaving down the sides of each and every pumpkin to help the carving process go smoothly. Then, each NAHS member takes home at least two pumpkins to carve.
On the actual night, there are a number of activities set up for children and adults alike to enjoy the festivities of the NOTP. There is a prize giveaway with gift baskets, craft tables, face-painting, outdoor games, a DJ, and booths set up by various LHS clubs. Throughout the night, kids can be seen running around with their friends in Halloween attire, and the pumpkins are lit up in the night, providing people with a gorgeous walk-through of hours of hard work.
A key pillar in the NAHS’ philosophy is the idea of each individual creating the utmost quality of work in everything he/she does. Thus the phrase “The Finest Finest” was born. Payton Stalter, a senior and president of NAHS, noted how “…the ‘Finest Finest’ means to put your best foot forward in your art, but I think it also applies to real life as well…The dedication that goes into this night is a reminder of us working hard to achieve our Finest Finest.”
Junior and NAHS member Hana DeSilva was a face painter this year at NOTP. She did the same activity last year and loved it just as much. She noted that “getting to interact with the kids in the community and creating something that they love” is her favorite part of face-painting and participating in the evening as a whole. She deeply values the experiences she has had while being a member of NAHS, with Night of the Pumpkins being in the forefront of that.
None of the successes of Night of the Pumpkins would be possible without the NAHS’s beloved advisor, Michael Kunz. Kunz has been a teacher at LHS for 17 years and advisor of the NAHS for 16. The event has drastically grown from just a couple of carved pumpkins lit up and displayed in the cafeteria, to now a full pumpkin walk-through on the LHS field with activities in the courtyard and lunchroom. Kunz said, “What’s special is that [Night of the Pumpkins] has become more of a full school activity, and there are more clubs involved.” To name them, Environmental Club, Fiber-Arts Club, Robotics Club, and the Diversity Council all joined in to have different displays of their work at Night of the Pumpkins. Additionally, Key Club helped to set up throughout the day, and this year the Key Club had a table where they sold bracelets and shirts to raise awareness for breast cancer given that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Kunz enjoys how it has become a school-wide event. Since opening the “Hollowing” the evening before to all students in order to try and earn two hours of community service, the turnout of students has increased each and every year. This also allows for freshmen who are interested in being a part of the NAHS to get a taste for what it is like before potentially applying for their sophomore year.
The most important part of this event is the community outreach it brings. Island Harvest, the chosen charity each year, is an organization that works to reduce food insecurity and waste on Long Island through advocacy and various programs and initiatives. This year, $4,700 was raised by the NAHS for this event, and half of that is going directly to Island Harvest.
