On Wednesday, Feb. 22, the juniors of NHS hosted a hat day in order to raise funds for junior Jamie Schwartz, who had lost her house in a fire earlier this month.

“I found out on Feb. 2. I was in an airport going to Orlando,” Schwartz said. “It just didn’t seem real at all.”

Donna Malkmus, FHN Chemistry teacher and sponsor for the junior NHS, was contacted by junior Krista Avants, who was interested in putting together a fundraiser to raise money for the Schwartz family. Malkmus was more than happy to accept the task along with the help of her NHS members.

“Me and my NHS officers got together and brainstormed different ways we could raise money for her [Jamie] and her family” Malkmus says.

Students took part in Wednesday’s hat day by bringing in a dollar or more to their first hour and wearing their favorite hat. In total, $418.37 was raised for the Schwartz family. Along with the hat day, NHS is hosting two other fundraisers for them. Seniors are hosting an event called “Cat in the Hat” where students can nominate a teacher to wear a cat in the hat costume on March 2nd by buying tickets. Tickets are $0.25 a piece or $1.00 for 5 of them. There will also be a table set up outside the auditorium during the NHS induction on March 8th.

“I was grateful when I found out [about the fundraiser],” Schwartz says. “It showed that people still cared.”