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|Photo provided| Members of the new National Art Honor Society at Wheeling Park High School gather prior to their inductions, which happened Thursday night.

WHEELING – The most creative and artistic students at Wheeling Park High School now have an honor society of their own at the school.

On Thursday, 24 students were the initial inductees into the WPHS chapter of the National Art Honor Society – a program started by the National Arts Honor Society program.

Membership in the NAHS gives WPHS students the opportunity for national recognition and the ability to enter many art shows outside the area, explained veteran art teacher Russ Schultz.

There is also the possibility for them to win art scholarships through their participation from organizations and schools that only award NAHS members, he added.

Last year, one of his students, Juliette Manukin, participated in National Portfolio Day at an art school college fair. When she asked about financial aid, she was told by most of the schools they didn’t even consider a student for a scholarship unless they were a member of NAHS.

Manukin recounted this to Schultz, who immediately started the research and paperwork to bring the NAHS chapter to WPHS. He began talking to schools who have the program, and visiting some of them.

“I have the most talented seniors this year that I ever had in my life,” added Schultz, who has been teaching for 30 years.

And the requirements to be eligible for selection to NAHS at WPHS “are among the most strict in the country,” he continued.

Members must have a 3.0 or better in all of their art classes and have completed Art 1 and 2. In addition, they must have achieved at least a 2.0 or better cumulative grade point average in all other classes.

“Our members must show good character, and each of these members will also have at least six hours per year doing community service through art,” he said.

On Nov. 6, the NAHS students will travel to the Douglas Education Center in Monessen, Pennsylvania to learn about art in special effects makeup and film with the Tom Savini Special Effects Makeup Program.

“It’s one of the most prestigious special effects schools, and it’s right in our backyard,” Schultz said. Savini is a legendary special effects and makeup artist who has worked on films like “Friday the 13th,” “Creepshow” and “Dawn of the Dead.”

The students have been invited to West Liberty University to participate in their annual Mad Art Fest happening Nov. 14 on campus. Later in the month, they will paint the windows for Christmas at the Bethlehem branch of United Bank.

The students also are slated to take a field trip to the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, and Schultz added he and the students are hoping to work with a local artist from the Wheeling Arts Commission to do a mural near Wheeling’s Riverfront.

“I watch these students and I think, ‘Wow. If I could have done what they do at their age.’ It’s just amazing,” he said. “Some of it is due to natural ability, but I also think that much of it is because we have an art program for students from kindergarten all the way through to their senior year. When I was in school, they just handed us paper and said, ‘Here, draw a picture.

“I feel blessed to have the job I do. I love working with creative young people every single day. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” Schultz continued.