Our Halloween Carnival and Haunted House was a huge success! Along with our collaborators in the Lincoln Square Neighborhood Center's After School Program, our After School Program hosted a fun-filled Saturday evening complete with spooky treats, bewitching games, and a terrifying tour through Haunted Hartley House. Our haunted house would not have been possible without Materials For The Arts, where we received building supplies at no cost! We also held a costume contest for the Hartley House participants; winners included a Mad Hatter, zombie girl and scary ghoul. Huge thanks to BNP Paribas and Shake Shack Theater District, whose volunteers truly helped make the events a success.

The Hartley House After School Program celebrated Thanksgiving with a humongous potluck dinner; thank you to all our families who contributed amazing home-cooked dishes, delicious baked goods, and tray upon tray of fantastic food! We are very thankful for the community here at Hartley House and were happy to share such a wonderful dinner with our After School families. This was an opportunity for our oldest group of participants, the Warriors, to take on leadership positions at a special event and run the craft table, serve food, and help organize the event. Our Drama Club (comprised of participants in 2nd-6th grades) presented a play, "A Turkey Takes a Stand", before the feast began. Actors rehearsed from September through November with our drama specialist Victoria to bring this play to life for our families. Team members from Shake Shack Theater District and BNP Paribas also came to help serve food, run the kitchen and meet our participants. Thank you so much for your help and support!

On December 19th, 2014 we welcomed all After School families for the annual Holiday Party. Our participants showcased their September-December Learning Community projects (including videos about magnets, the seasons and the planets, as well as a live performance of Thriller), before our guests were treated to a visit from Santa Claus! This was a magical evening, in large part because of the contributions of the following organizations: Local Union 94, Federation of Protestant Welfare Associations, Proskauer Rose LLP, HK Hospitality and the Jolly Monk, De La Salle Academy, Shake Shack Theater District and BNP Paribas. Thank you for bringing a smile to our faces this holiday season!