The Park Avenue Jazz Club was swinging at Whitefish Independent High School.

On the nights of April 17-18, the school was transformed into an intimate jazz club with gossamer-covered walls, low lighting and a stage of student musicians.

At the club entrance on Friday night, sophomore Matthew Henderson greeted guests and checked coats. Students were dressed up and Henderson put his own spin on formal attire with suspenders and a bow tie. This was his first year helping with the event, a fundraiser for the school.

At a hostess podium, senior Daley Powell looked over a seating chart before showing guests to their tables. It was her third year participating in the school’s annual event.

“A lot of thought goes into this. We get to pretty much show people what we’re able to do at this school,” Powell said. “We’re not just an ordinary high school.”

Twenty-two students spent more than a month planning the event, outlining a menu with a chef, setting a budget, pricing ingredients with area merchants, shopping, decorating, organizing seating arrangements and assigning jobs, which ranged from washing dishes to serving.

The fundraiser, which started six years ago, allows Whitefish Independent High School to produce a yearbook and provide a copy to each student, lead teacher Beth Hansen said. Funds also go toward end-of-year student trips.

“We talked about how we could raise money. At the time, we had a student who was cooking in local restaurants and was already kind of known as a chef even though he was still a high school student,” Hansen said. “We started with one night. Now, we do two nights.”

The student who started it all was 2009 graduate Tyler Ferguson. The 23-year-old is a sous chef at Latitude 48 Bistro in Whitefish. Ferguson returns every year to help out with the restaurant fundraiser.

“Definitely without this school I would not have graduated,” Ferguson said. “It means a lot and that’s why I keep coming back and helping out. They definitely did a lot for me.”

This is the last big event that will be held at the location on 625 Park Ave. Next school year, the independent high school moves down the block in a new building connected to Whitefish High School. The new facility will have a kitchen and Hansen said the event will continue.

“This is our last year in the building. The kids have a lot of really special memories because it’s been their own school, separate. Next year it will be a transition,” Hansen said. “We’ll still have our own area of the building, but it will be a change.”

Standing between a stove and portable burners, Ferguson stirred the aromatic food. The menu included pork tenderloin with cornbread stuffing, sautéed spinach and apple cider reduction; swordfish with farro watercress and a pomegranate reduction; and roasted acorn squash stuffed with quinoa, kale, goat cheese and toasted walnuts with a balsamic reduction.

Junior Jaylen Meeker moved with ease between the bustling kitchen and the dining room, carrying trays of beautifully plated food.

“Each server has three tables tonight. I love the fast pace,” Meeker said, noting she has worked in restaurants before.

This is Meeker’s first year attending the high school.

“It’s a great program how everything is self-paced and the teachers are so supportive,” Meeker said.

By the end of the second night, about 60 people were served at the Park Avenue Jazz Club, raising $1,676.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at [email protected].