By Claire Fagan, Features Editor
As an initiative this year to expand creative communities, National English Honor Society (NEHS) is holding an ongoing event series called the Author’s Tea, the next of which will take place on February 22nd. Anyone is welcome to attend this imagination-focused event.
“The Author’s Tea is a cozy, stress-free environment for people to share their writing, such as their poems, their short stories, and perform them out loud, and drink tea and eat snacks with their peers,” senior Jennifer Gao, vice president of NEHS, explains. The Author’s Tea is designed to bring people together through their love of writing, and NEHS officers provide snacks and tea as further incentives to attend.
The first Author’s Tea at River Hill occurred on December 7th, with an attendance of about 30 people. During the Author’s Tea, any student can present their work to a welcoming group. Although this concept may seem intimidating, NEHS sponsor Ms. Curry believes that many students who attended in December quickly realized there was no reason to be scared. She also hopes more students will attend the event and participate. She mentions, “I think, the first time, kids were a little hesitant to share, a little nervous about what it was going to be like, and I’m hoping that this time, because, if they’ve gone to the last one, they’ve realized what a warm, communal environment it was, that they’re going to be more comfortable sharing.”
However, students are also allowed to simply attend the event to watch and support others who perform. Senior Vianne Stanford initially visited the Author’s Tea in December, intending to watch her friends perform and enjoy the tea. However, upon seeing the welcoming atmosphere, she decided in the moment to read a piece of her writing to the group. She comments, “I liked how it allowed for people who weren’t originally planning to do it, to be able to just spur-of-the-moment get cheered on and share something they otherwise wouldn’t have.” Like Ms. Curry, Vianne believes that the Author’s Tea audience truly had no judgment and genuinely enjoyed every performance.
In addition to Vianne, about four other people spontaneously decided to perform during the Author’s Tea. The NEHS officer team welcomes this and wants anyone to be able to share their works during the event. They are glad that the environment so positively influenced everyone who attended.
This time around, NEHS officers have one main improvement in mind to make the Author’s Tea even better. When asked about the beginning of the event, Vianne remarks, “There was a lot of confusion on who needed to sign in.” Indeed, at the beginning of the event in December, officers still needed to set up and record the names of the NEHS members present, resulting in a slight delay.
Thankfully, NEHS president senior Ava Aria took note of this difficulty and believes that the event on the 22nd should go off smoothly. She clarifies, “For the next one I”m planning on coming in during 6th period to help set up so we can start right away after school.” Hopefully, this change will allow time for more people to read their work and enjoy their tea.
Overall, everyone who attended loved the Author’s Tea in December, and many are planning to return for this month’s Author’s Tea. Jennifer comments, “We really want something that’s fun and interactive and really gets people to spiritually open up and really interact,” and the Author’s Tea is a perfect execution of this idea. The Author’s Tea helps create a creativity-focused community in River Hill.
If you’re interested in attending this event, you can come to room 234 after school on February 22nd. Additionally, the NEHS officer team is planning to have more Author’s Teas in the future. Ms. Curry expresses, “I hope it’s one of our regular activities that we do all the time. I would like to have them quarterly.” Ava agrees, commenting, “I really hope that the future officer team continues it.” NEHS truly believes anyone can enjoy the Author’s Tea and help to make it a success.