On the evening of November 4th, SHS students, teachers, and Scarsdale community dinner members gathered in the SHS cafeteria for the 6th annual community dinner. There was food, games, karaoke, and more. With the help of teachers, school, and class government members, the SHS cafeteria was set up for a fun night of food and festivities for people of all ages.

Attendees enjoyed the variety of food from three local restaurants: Jade Spoon, Giannoni’s, and Pizzarelli’s. Plates were piled high with delicious food. From pasta and sandwiches to fried rice and empanadas, there was food for everyone’s preference. For dessert, various cakes, cookies, and pies were enjoyed. Additionally, fresh waffles made by school government members were a big hit.

“I came because I love the food, and I love the chance to meet so many different people from around the community,” Arya Goyal ’25 shared. Attendees enjoyed the variety of activities provided by each class government. There were board games, face painting, coloring, a photo booth, and karaoke for people of all ages to enjoy.

Each year, ticket sales from the community dinner are donated to a specific local charity. Tickets for the dinner cost $20 and are sold by class government members in the weeks leading up to the event. This year, approximately $7,000 was raised and will be donated to Feeding Westchester.

“We often try to find something that’s on the local level [and] this is someplace that either students or families are already familiar with already volunteering at and it’s somewhere actually in our community,” school government advisor Lauren Barton explained.

Feeding Westchester provides millions of meals to hundreds of thousands of people across the community. “We’re really fortunate here in Scarsdale, but there’s a million people in Westchester and there’s perhaps two, three hundred thousand that are food insecure. So even if we can take some small measure, I think that’s really worth doing,” social studies teacher Christopher Hughes said.

Freshman class government set up a mini arcade. They had a variety of board games like Jenga, Connect-4, air hockey, and foosball. Each time someone won, they received a ticket that they could trade in for a prize. Prizes included pieces of candy or little toys like rubber ducks. The freshman class government was also responsible for setting up the ping-pong table in Brewster Commons.

This was their first event for the freshman class government and it was a great learning experience for them. “We had a lot of meetings about it…but we learned we had to stay organized and plan in advance,” Freshman class president Sammy Cascade ’28 shared.

A face painting station, a favorite from last year, was set up by the Sophomore class government. “We knew from the beginning that we wanted to do face painting because it was so easy from last year and it was really a big hit,” Sophomore Class President Caitlyn Jeremiah ’27 explained. By the end of the night, attendees could be seen with their faces or hands sporting bright, colorful, and glittery designs.

The junior class government provided coloring and Polaroid photos. There were two large coloring sheets and a variety of markers and colored pencils to use color with. The junior class government also set up a mini photo booth station. A variety of classic photo booth props were provided such as funky sunglasses or small signs. Participants could take as many photos as they liked and even decorate those polaroids with different frames.

The senior class government set up karaoke. Microphones and a large screen were set up next to the tables. Senior class government members along with their peers sang their hearts out to a variety of songs. Even some teachers got involved! “We just welcomed anyone who wanted to sing … [we] wanted it to be fun [and] bring the vibes up,” senior class vice president Jai Paradkar ’25 shared.

As the name suggests, the school government hopes that the community dinner fosters a greater sense of community within Scarsdale. “I think so often… everyone’s off doing separate things and it’s nice to be reminded of the larger group and a way to actually create community,” Barton said.

“I think it’s very important that a lot of members of the community can get together and talk to each other. There’s not a lot of opportunities outside of this for everyone to come together,” Cascade shared.