Aragon’s Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program hosted its second Paint Nite on Nov. 5, inviting faculty and the public to an evening of food, wine and art. Led by professional painter Carlene Sliva, participants dined and created masterpieces they could bring home. The event was held in order to raise money for the AVID program’s annual trip to southern California.
AVID Department Head Donald Bush organized the fundraiser. Other AVID teachers helped promote the event by sending e-mails and handing out fliers to Aragon faculty and parents.
“All I had to do is find a date and a location,” Bush said. “I emailed the Paint Nite people and asked if they had a date open, and they set it up. So then once they set it up, then [advertising is] on me and our AVID teachers just need to get the word out so we send it to the PTSO and the faculty.”
Twenty-eight people attended, including teachers, administrators and community members. The instructor walked participants through each step.
“I wanted to learn how to draw. I’ve taken a drawing class and that was a complete disaster. [AVID paint Nite] was different,” said Spanish teacher Amelia Salis. “It was just really fun to build on a new skill and … have it led by an instructor.”
Tickets to the AVID Paint Nite cost staff $45, raising the AVID program $15 per ticket sold. The funds raised by the event will go towards budgeting the AVID Southern California field trip, during which students in the program visit colleges and learn more about the path to higher education.
“[The ticket] was a little expensive, I think, for teachers,” Salis said. “But that’s a given and I was happy to be able to pay the money so $15 could go to AVID.”
Bush explains the need to fundraise for the AVID trip.
“To visit colleges, it’s expensive and I know some students need a little help,” Bush said. “So [Paint Nite] is one of the things that we use … as a fundraiser, so kids can go visit some colleges.”
In addition to funding the AVID field trip, the Paint Nite also served as a bonding experience for faculty members, including AVID advisor and Spanish teacher Alejandra Cheever.
“There were a lot of staff members from Aragon that went so that was a really fun experience to see our staffulty outside of school hanging out together doing something fun,” Cheever said.
For Salis, the paint night’s informal setting opened up opportunities to meet their colleagues.
“I didn’t know the person who I was sitting next to so I got to meet [them],” Salis said. “[They] were also staff members, and we had fun together, painting.”
Bush also hopes to include students in similar events in the future as an opportunity to build community and raise money for the AVID program.
“We have people who are interested [and] are not adults,” Bush said. “[Paint Nite] serve[s] wine and their rule is that it’s only for adults. The [company] said, ‘Well, you could do one on your side.’ And we thought about that, but then we don’t have food, and that’s part of the thing, you want to eat and have a good time and [build] a community.”
Although this is only the second year of AVID’s paint night, its success as a fundraiser and bonding experience between the participants has encouraged Bush and the other AVID advisors to continue this new tradition.
