Haunted High is possibly one of the biggest and most anticipated annual events that Piscataway High School holds. However, many attendees are unaware that all the work going into such a large event is done by volunteers and officers of different clubs.
Future Business Leaders of America [FBLA], one of the largest clubs in our school held this event on October 24th and was led by President Kritin Ganesh, and advisor Mr. Critelli. The club has 10 officers, who divide their work evenly between three different committees of volunteers. Operations, decorations, and scaring each had about 35 volunteers and 3 officers leading them through their tasks to make Haunted High a successful night.
Advisor Mr. Critelli explained that the event took lots of planning, but when it came down to the final day, even with the last-minute date switch, he could sit back and watch his officers handle everything.
“The officers do 95% of the work, and for me, it was a cakewalk,” Critelli said. “There was nothing that could’ve been done better.”
Critelli also recalls that his main concern was the flow of traffic through the Haunted High hallways, but the volunteers who took part in the event helped things run smoothly.
Board Officer Om Purani says in his first year as an officer, “I think it went well since most directions by the board were heeded, and we were a cohesive team in planning the event and executing it.”
The officers and advisors, including other clubs that made an appearance like NHS, TSA, UNICEF, Med Club, etc, say that there was “a great vibe” to the night and that the turnout was amazing.
Critelli says “We had about 250 kids, and about 400 parents” who attended.
The fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association was also very successful, the club says they donated close to $1200 to the association and were proud that they almost doubled their money from last year.
Mr. Critelli was very proud of his club saying that his only goal was to “do as good as we could…better than last year”. And his goal was fulfilled.
According to FBLA President Kristin Ganesh, “The best part of the night was seeing all the families and children of Piscataway and enjoying the rooms that the different clubs set up – it felt good to spread joy working alongside other clubs while raising money for charity”.
Many of the kids had a blast walking around PHS after hours. The screams of terror from the haunted rooms, the smell of popcorn covering the halls and the attention to detail of the decorations made this Haunted High one for the history books.
