After a year of transformation for the National Art Society (NAHS), the art-centered service organization is back and better than ever. On Wednesday, Feb. 9, member students each invited a teacher to the art room to paint a custom design together. 

“We […] had to start from the ground up this year,” says NAHS president Claire Klish on the organization’s presence at Enloe. “We haven’t been as active as we would like to be because we’re creating […] crucial infrastructure.” 

Once the chapter had built itself back up, the challenge became finding how to best re-introduce themselves to the Enloe community. 

“We talked about ideas that would give back to the school,” says Ms. Mann, Enloe art teacher and NAHS advisor. In the end, they decided on an event focusing on celebrating Enloe teachers. Mann describes art as something very important to Enloe students and saw this as an opportunity to “share their gift with their teachers and show what fuels their passion.”

And share it they did. After sending hand-made invitations to the teachers of their choice, students custom-made a design for their respective teachers. Once at the event, the students showed their teacher how to craft their design. While painting their designs, students and teachers got to talk and reconnect — an opportunity lost for many in the past few turbulent years.

Mr. Fuss, an Enloe social studies teacher, says it “meant a lot” to be invited, as it was a way to meet and interact with a student he had only had during online school. 

“For most of us, I don’t think we really got to know [the online] students that well,” says Fuss. 

In addition to connecting with students, teachers got to partake in a new activity and learn a new skill. Ms. Hallihan, Enloe chorus teacher, enjoyed the activity, despite not knowing much about paint. 

“[You can] sit here and […] experiment,” says Hallihan. “It’s just gonna be what it’s gonna be.”

She remarked that they should do the event every year. 

As for where NAHS goes from here, Klish describes the event as “a stepping stone.” The group plans to expand from here, becoming a larger part of the Enloe community. 

“We have so many ideas, murals, community outreach projects,” says Mann. “This is a fun way to kick it all off.”