These student members performed a number of vital roles for the evening. Some helped with the food service for the event’s attendees while others conducted parking. Meanwhile, the majority of the student volunteers played character roles in the haunted house for an audience that primarily consisted of elementary-aged children and their families.  

The event was split into two halves: one side was the social aspect, where families ate and mingled, while the other was the draw of the event, the haunted house itself. 

“One of the selling points of the haunted house is that students can participate in it much more than other events—literally acting and performing in the show,” said Anna Lu, the honor society’s secretary.  

This opportunity at the fire department is one of many events that the National Honor Society has volunteered at this year. Others have included the Seafood Festival, the book sale at West Florida Public Library, and clean-ups of the Dolphin Stadium after home games; however, this year the honor society’s president is looking to branch out. 

“This year,” said Joshua Khan, president, “we’ve geared our volunteering towards community building.” 

Volunteer opportunities like cooking meals at the Ronald McDonald House and building houses with Habitat for Humanity have been added to the National Honor Society’s list of service projects in the Gulf Breeze and wider Santa Rosa community. Others, like the haunted house, were ideas handed down by previous officers. 

To get volunteer spots for their members at these events, most of the time an officer will email a contact who is organizing the event in question. From there, it’s usually a question of how many volunteers are needed by the organizer, and the honor society provides its members with a sign-up to attend. 

Khan aims to build community by coordinating with these event organizers on opportunities with both social and more tangible benefits, exemplified in the haunted house and Habitat for Humanity projects, respectively. 

“Ultimately,” said Khan, “our goal is to make the biggest positive impact in the community we can, and the haunted house is a great opportunity for that.”