By Lindsay Newfeld
On Friday, Feb. 2, Tempe Prep’s National Honor Society hosted a very special Buddy Game Night for NHS members and their sixth grade buddies. This partnership between NHS and sixth graders at TPA has been a staple of our chapter for many years. While the majority of the program consists of writing letters back and forth, NHS also traditionally hosts two Buddy Breakfasts: one at the beginning of the year and one at the end.
Besides those two events, it is difficult for NHS members to actually interact with their buddies face-to-face rather than simply through pen and paper. That’s why NHS President Aimee Cheng thought of the idea to host a Buddy Game Night. She excitedly shares how her plans became a reality: “I wanted to do this since the beginning of the first semester. It took a lot of diligent work from our NHS officers, and I am so glad to see it come into fruition!”
When Buddy Game Night finally arrived, the Student Union was set with a large variety of snacks, including cookies, popcorn, and Capri Suns. The table designated for board games was overflowing with options like Monopoly, UNO, Battleship, Headbandz, Jenga, and Sorry. At the beginning of the night, it was a little quiet as the sixth graders got comfortable but soon the Student Union was so loud with conversation and laughter that you almost had to shout to be heard across the table.
With music and king-size candy bars for winners of the games, the two-hour night flew by for both NHS members and sixth-graders. When asked about the future of Buddy Game Night, Aimee responds, “We hope this becomes an annual event. Even more sixth graders attended than I was expecting and everyone really enjoyed themselves. I think it’s important that we have more opportunities like this one where the sixth graders can really have fun with the upperclassmen.”
In this age of technology, it is easy to forget about something so simple as playing a board game with friends, but that will always be a fun way to spend a couple hours. As the second semester continues, NHS has more fun activities planned as well as their annual induction ceremony on March 19.