One by one, students walked onto the stage and towards the spotlighted canvas showing a painted tree. They dipped their thumbs into one of the brightly colored paints and pressed them onto the canvas, the vibrant leaves symbolizing the start of a new chapter.
On November 5th , 2025, Oyster River High School (ORHS) inducted 26 students into their brand-new chapter of National Art Honor Society (NAHS). The creation of the Honor Society at ORHS was long awaited and the result of hard work, helping arts students receive the recognition they deserve. As NAHS starts their first official year at ORHS, they work towards goals of community outreach and spreading creativity.
The induction featured a hand-painted tree trunk made by Maggie Aldous (‘26). During the ceremony, each inductee imprinted their thumbprint onto the tree, representing leaves. The tree was created specifically for ORHS’s NAHS chapter with the intention of eventually holding the thumbprints of every member over the years.
The chapter was started by NAHS’s three-person leadership team, Elise Bacon (‘26), Anya Suba (‘26), and Teagan Nadeau (‘26). The Co-Presidents officially started working on the chapter at the beginning of the year with the help of the chapter advisor and ORHS art teacher, Hettie Haudenschield. The three art students were chosen instead of elected for the first year of NAHS. “The three of them did tons of research. They did all the little parts that pulls something like this together,” said Haudenschield, crediting the presidents.
As part of their first year, NAHS hopes to start traditions with their community service. A holiday fundraising event featuring both clay and edible festive treats that will be shaped with cookie cutters is planned for December. “As volunteers we can host events for the community that are cheap and enjoyable,” said Shuba. NAHS aims for affordable fundraisers that use the resources available to them such as recycled clay from ORHS ceramics classes and potentially even the ORHS bake shop students for cookies at this holiday community event.
This first event is also an opportunity for members to get a few of their eight required hours of community service. In their few meetings since the beginning of the year, NAHS has brainstormed many ways to meet the service requirements. These include a booth at the ORCSD Lunar New Year celebration, art lessons for kids, and joint events with other Honor Societies. Libby Bessette (‘27), a member of NAHS and the Tri-M Music Honor Society, said, “I really like all the ideas that we have for ways to interact with and bring art to the community… I think music and art are so connected that bringing them together just sounds like a good idea.”
The prospect of these volunteering or fundraising opportunities is a big focus for NAHS because of the benefits they reap. “I’m really excited about helping the community and helping kids,” said Haudenschield, whose main goals are to support her students and the community. She has drafted an initiative to create a scholarship for every graduating NAHS member in an effort to financially contribute to the futures of arts students. “I would love to watch all of our students walk away with a scholarship,” said Haudenschield. The money for these will come from the fundraising efforts of the chapter, and Haudenschield hopes to watch the amount in the scholarships increase annually.
The passion the members have for art is clear in the effort put into creating a chapter and planning events to support their community. NAHS is helpful for the future of the members in terms of college applications and resumes; some members like Kendall Strong (‘26) are relying on NAHS to help them in their academic pursuits. Strong plans on studying architecture in college and values the leg up that NAHS will give her. “I figured it would look good for colleges and it’s something I’m interested in,” said Strong. While this is true for some, students also chose to join purely because of their love for the arts. Shuba said, “I don’t want to do [art] for a job, but it means a lot to me… It’s important to me emotionally.” With the variety of benefits NAHS holds for students, they hope to interest more students in joining for the coming years.
Haudenschield and the presidents strongly encourage those interested in art to apply in the 2026-2027 school year considering the large number of senior members this year. Information about applications will be available at the beginning of next school year or through contact with Haudenschield at hhaudenschield@orcsd.org. Looking towards the future, NAHS aims to support the community in their first fundraiser which will be full of holiday cheer! The fundraiser will occur in the art rooms, and NAHS invites community members to come and paint handmade clay ornaments or decorate cookies on December 10th.
-Kristina Jakobs
Visuals courtesy of Maria Rosi
Mouth of the River 
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