Students, visiting kids in the gym during night of fun. (courtesy Shana Hart)

On December 3, LMHS rang with the chatter and laughter of children as the class of 2014 held its biggest fundraiser of the year: Parents Night Out. The event, described on flyers as “a fun night filled with movies, board games, open gym, arts and crafts and more,” lasted from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., and was considered a great success, with around seventy children present.

When asked about her experience, sophomore Shana Hart said “I’m having the best time of my life…these kids are beyond cute and this is bringing me back to my childhood memories.”

While all proceedings were under the careful guidance and planning of Spanish teacher Allison Mellet and math teacher Brian Feeney, the students of LM did the majority of child supervision. Volunteers, dressed in red and orange, were assigned to either stations or groups while sophomore class officers Melana Dayanim, Andy Scolnic, and Arman Hassan floated around, providing help and advice where needed.

Dayanim said that the event was an eleven on a scale of one to ten, and that “all the parents who walked out were raving about what a great idea this is, and how we should do this every week…we’re really happy that this is a success, because we put a lot of work into this.”

Scolnic heartily agreed, proudly showing off his new friends, Sam and Elliot, while Hassan was interrupted mid-interview by a flying shoe and ran off, inquiring, “Which fellow threw that shoe?”

Prior to the event, volunteers were told to never let children wander alone and to make sure that the children were having fun. They were then briefed on their assignments and the setup; children had been organized into groups based on ages and each group had a schedule consisting of four half-hour activities, a snack of pretzels, and a movie. Upon arriving, the children were shown to their respective rooms and groups for their first activity, played a few ice-breakers with their group, and started on their activity. The stations, each lasting half an hour, were designated to a specific room on the first floor, and included different activities such as puzzles and games, teacup crafts, and friendship bracelets. Open gym was comprised of students leading the older children in games including dodgeball, soccer, and basketball in the main gym, and the smaller children in games including Duck, Duck, Goose and Simon Says in the auxiliary gym. At 7:30, all the children were led into the LGI for popcorn and a showing of The Incredibles until it was time to head home.

Parents Night Out raised roughly $1,400 for the class of 2014, and was a fantastic evening for parents, student volunteers, and children alike. In fact, the sole disgruntled person to be found was seven-year-old Zach, who grumpily declared that he was sick of being “out” in dodgeball; until a jailbreak was announced and he perked up and cheerily tottered back into the game.