The afternoon sun glows through the art room windows. Paintbrushes and pencils rest on the black tables and counters, and paper sits in racks on the walls. The roar of the end of the school day can be heard faintly at the other end of the arts hallway. Students enter in ones and twos, chattering quietly, then choose seats and turn to face the board, where a pair of art teachers stand.

While it appears to be one, this is not an art class. This is the WHS chapter of the National Arts Honors Society, which was started last year.

The NAHS is a national organization that recognizes students who excel in art. Members learn about the history of various art forms and serve their communities by promoting the visual arts. In order to join, students must have taken at least one visual arts class at WHS, completed 10 hours of community service and have a cumulative B average.

WHS’ chapter was established last year by former WHS art teacher Alicia Fine. This year, the club’s advisors are art teachers Janet Armentano and Amy Cuneo.

“I’m basically taking over the role [from Fine], and Ms. Armentano offered to do it with me because we have a nice relationship and work well together, so we thought it would be fun,” Cuneo said.

Despite only having had one meeting this year, the club has already gotten involved in the community. Students ran a booth at the Wayland Arts Fair on Sep. 19.

“We had students helping out and doing face paint for kids and talking to parents about what the club is about,” Cuneo said.

“It is really nice when you have older kids getting younger kids interested in art,” junior and club member Ariella Fuzaylov said.

This year, the club plans to volunteer around Wayland and create art within WHS.

“I think we’re going to do a lot of volunteer work,” Cuneo said. “We’ve talked about working with elders at a local elderly home, or volunteering at Claypit or one of the elementary schools with kids and doing after-school programs.”

The club also aims to finish the mural on the WayCam building, which they started last year.

“It’s really cool when you have a group of different talents working together, so I think I’m really excited to see how the mural turns out,” Fuzaylov said. “That’s just something to make the school more beautiful.”

Cuneo plans to organize an art show for NAHS members this year.

“Whether they be with Ms. Armentano or I, whether they’ve taken art in the past or currently, they can display their work to show around the school and maybe do some fun little art installations around the school, like pop-up art,” Cuneo said.

“[Last year] I was someone who was very into the club, so I was always around if someone needed to talk to me,” Fuzaylov said. “I was co-president last year.”

NAHS meets after school on Tuesdays until 3:00. Students can still join, but the club will eventually have a final list of members. There is a $20 fee, which will pay for trips and the tassels that seniors will wear at graduation.