Art teacher Ms. Simonsen organized a Christmas paint party last Thursday, December 11, to give students a chance to be creative, socialize, and support the National Art Honor Society.
Students painted holiday-themed canvases, listened to music, and enjoyed a calm space to relax with friends before the winter break.
The event was hosted by the National Art Honor Society (NAHS), which needs to run activities for the school and community each year.
Ms. Simonsen said the idea for a paint party made sense because students could enjoy something fun while also learning more about art and how to be creative. “I figured this was something fun for the entire school to do for the holiday season, and it gets people to do a little bit of art and be creative,” she said.
Before the event, members of the NAHS helped choose the designs. Students had three options: a snowman, a nutcracker, or a winter tree. The canvases were pre-drawn, and each design came with step by step instructions.
Ms. Simonsen said the goal was to make the activity easy for everyone, even for students who don’t paint often. “They can be as creative as they want to be… They don’t have to follow the instructions exactly. They can make it their own,” she said.
For many students, the event was a chance to take a break from stress and reconnect with friends. Senior Diana Martinez said she looked forward to painting something relaxing and spending time with people she doesn’t see often. “I want to mindlessly paint stress free and socialize with my friends because we don’t see each other like we used to anymore,” she said. Martinez picked the nutcracker design because it gave her a lot of creative freedom and many ways to customize colors and details. She said she liked how the event was friendly, calm, and open to everyone. “You didn’t have to be good at painting or have a background in art… It was something I could do with any of my friends,” she said.
Martinez enjoyed the process, especially the final touches. “Painting everything took time because I had to wait for parts to dry, but the final details made the painting come together,” she said. She added that the atmosphere made the event even better. “The music was a vibe, and you could hear everyone having a good time. Then suddenly everyone was quiet because they were focused. It was like we were all synced together.”
Senior Melina Toxqui also said she joined the event to spend time with her friends and relax. “I wanted to spend perfect quality time with my friends and distract myself from everything,” she said. Even though her painting didn’t turn out the way she was expecting at first, she still enjoyed the moment. “I was getting too distracted and couldn’t really focus until I realized I was running out of time,” she said, laughing.
Toxqui said the event helped her feel the holiday spirit, especially because the group painted while Christmas music played in the background.
Both students said the event helped them reconnect with friends and meet new people. Martinez said the experience strengthened her friendships. “If my friends weren’t there, I wouldn’t have had as much fun as I did,” she said.
For Ms. Simonsen, the main purpose of the event was exactly that, to bring students together.
She hopes more students learn what the National Art Honor Society does and feel encouraged to join. “I hope they have fun, make friends, and see what we do around the building,” she said.