Easter Egg Hunt is a Fun Community Adventure at JFK High

John F. Kennedy High School in Iselin hosted its tenth annual Community Egg Hunt on Saturday. The event was done on a large scale, and consisted of activities in the school's cafeteria and gymnasium. The cafeteria had spin art, miniature golf, face painting, and a Easter bunny to take a picture with for all of the attendees, while the gymnasium had a creative egg hunt obstacle course.

The Egg Hunt was a fundraising effort for all of the high school's three choirs - concert, show, and chamber. Judy Verrilli, a teacher at JFK High School, and Sue Belly, a teacher at Avenel Middle School,  organized the Egg Hunt and serve as advisors for the choirs.

"We've been doing this for ten years and we learn something different each year," Verrilli said. The drive and motivation behind the fundraiser is a pusing factor indeed - the money goes to fund a national competition in Ohio.

"The kids that are in the choir built everything and help the kids that come to the hunts with the crafts. The profit goes straight into the kids' account to help pay for the trip to Ohio," said Verrilli.

The passion and dedication that the organizers have for their students is evident through their deep involvement and commitment. "Last year each of our choirs won first place and got superior ratings. Our kids work really hard and we love them, they're just great," said Belly, a co-advisor for the groups.

The egg hunt course had different unique stations for the kids to make stops at. Each station was creatively named, "little mer-bunny," "choral paradise," "veggietown," "duck pond," "destination duck," and "back at the backyard," and each station's props perfectly fit its creative name.

Michelle McGeehan from Colonia brought her sons Tyler and Zack to the egg hunt. "This is our third or fourth year coming. The design this year was cute and organized, and my kids ran all over it," she said. "The kids really enjoyed themselves." Zack proudly said, "I collected ten eggs," while pointing inside his yellow plastic bag.

Woodbridge High School seniors Jesamarie C. of the concert and show choirs, and Taylor Y. of the show choir, have been involved in their respective choirs for all four years of their high school career.

Jesamarie C. understands that each fundraiser only draws them closer to the national competition in Ohio. She said, "This is our biggest fundraiser because it brings in the most money. We get money for every hour that we spend volunteering."

Of course, in any large fundraising effort there will always be some unforeseen problems. "We were supposed to have really big Moon Bounces for the kids to jump on this year but we got a call that the truck that was supposed to bring them in this morning is stuck in Brooklyn," Taylor Y. said.

McGeehan said, "The kids were really looking forward to the Moon Bounces but you know things happen, they still had a good time."