IMPORTANT Information for Prospective Candidates

SERVICE REQUIREMENT DESCRIPTIONS UPDATED May 2025.

What happens when I ask to be a candidate?

Maine South National Honor Society Candidate Packet Instructions

VERY IMPORTANT: Faculty Advisory Committee members are unlikely to know many students personally; their impression of your qualifications will be based on your packet.  It is extremely important that you follow the instructions and provide all the elements requested.  Incomplete packets or packets which do not follow the submission instructions will be denied an invitation.  If you are uncertain or have questions, please see Mr. McArthur-Self well in-advance of the submission deadline.

Submission deadline for 2025: Friday, August 22, 2025, at 3:30.  Please drop off forms at the main entrance security window any day after August 16.

NHS New-Member Commitment Form - candidates who are invited after submitting their profile documents and choose to accept the invitation to induction into the Maine South Chapter MUST return this form before the induction ceremony.

If you are requesting consideration for membership in NHS, please read ALL of the following information, as well as the Candidate Packet instructions and the  deadlines, very carefully.

What is National Honor Society?

NHS is a national organization which honors students who show outstanding achievement in four areas:

· scholarship

· leadership

· service

· character.

If you become a member of NHS, be aware that this organization will REQUIRE service and leadership efforts (including tutoring) from you throughout the year.

Who is eligible to be considered for membership to National Honor Society?

All junior and senior students who have fulfilled the requirement for scholarship are eligible for consideration. The scholarship requirement is a grade point average of 3.5 or greater (unweighted) by the end of second semester sophomore year (or junior year for seniors).

What is the selection process for becoming a member of NHS?

Any academically eligible students (see above) who wish to make themselves known to the Faculty Advisory Committee must complete a 4-part candidate information packet (the candidate packet instructions are linked under "Forms" on this site).  Submit the candidate packet to the security desk at Door #3. Deadline information is on the instruction sheet each year, or you can contact Mr. McArthur-Self. 

The candidate instructions (linked at the top of this page) are available at the Maine South website on the NHS web page. The parts are as follows:

• Cover Sheet/Eligibility Form: A list of activities in which you have participated inside and outside of school. Include any activities you’ve participated in during your freshman, sophomore, junior and (if applicable) senior years. Do not include any activities from middle school or the summer before freshman year. 

• Leadership Verification Form(s): A detailed description of at least one activity in which you have provided leadership, signed by a non-family adult sponsor of the organization.  Unpaid (volunteer) activities are preferred, but leadership demonstrated in work can be considered.  Hawk Pride can be evidence of leadership if you participated for the whole previous year, provided that that Hawk Pride program verifies your satisfactory participation.

  • In explaining your leadership, you should keep the following definitions in mind:  Leadership can be shown through one or more activities.

  • At least ONE leadership role must meet TWO or more of the following criteria; it is the students' responsibility to adequately explain how the claimed criteria were met:

• • • It is important that the candidate strongly demonstrate leadership according to the criteria described above.   Generally speaking, peer tutoring and babysitting by themselves do not demonstrate leadership.  Candidates' ability to articulate their contributions is important in the committee members' evaluations of accomplishments. 

• Service Verification Form(s): A detailed description of one or more unpaid activities in which you have provided a minimum of 24 total hours of volunteer service.  Records of service must include at least some service outside of Maine South High School. (Continuing For 2025: the expectations of service are as described above; in the event of changes in public guidance or limitations from the CDC or Illinois DPH, the Faculty Advisory Committee will determine what, if any, accommodations are needed.  For students who have family or individual health circumstances that severely restrict service opportunities, those restrictions should be described and explained for the teachers on the committee in the "Service" section of the candidate packet). 

  • For Service Verification, also include ONE of the following:

    • If service was through a Maine South High School activity, have the activity sponsor or the school supervisor of the service activity sign the bottom of your form describing each service activity.  Signatures are sufficient for activities supervised by Maine South staff, as they are easiest for us to confirm and verify if necessary.

    • If service was with an out-of-school activity or group OR if it was a school activity but coached or supervised by non-school staff, attach a letter from the sponsor, supervisor, or recipient of the service activity to verify your service hours. Please attach and turn in multiple forms and letters if you have multiple service activities.  Letters should be signed, and should provide enough description of the activity to corroborate the student service.  Hour sheets (such as volunteer time reports for the public library or Lutheran General, or printed records from other organizations like Scouting programs) may be used for verification, but they should still be attached to a short official letter signed by the adult in charge.  

      • NOTE: Packets without service verification LETTERS for out-of school or non-staff-supervised service will not be considered.  Request your letters early!

      • Also note that the committee strongly favors a commitment to service demonstrated through consistent and ongoing efforts rather than a burst of activities in the summer after sophomore (or junior) year.  Candidates whose records of service reflect a last-minute effort are much less likely to be invited in their first year, but students interested in remaining in consideration should continue their efforts and put themselves back before the committee the following year.  

      • Because continued service is so important, students who have done service Freshman and/or sophomore year should be sure to include that service, along with documentation.

      • Candidates who are seniors, and have been students for an additional year, should be able to demonstrate a minimum of 36 hours of service.

Keep in mind these other important guidelines:

• Do not “double-dip” by using the same activity for leadership and for service. If you are using the same organization, but have different ROLES (i.e.,  as a volunteer at one time and a leader at another), you will need to very clearly explain those changes or separations in your materials.

• You may not use any activity in which you participate primarily for course credit (such as Junior Leaders), or for which you are paid for SERVICE (though you could be paid for for "Leadership" if it meets the criteria listed above).  If you have been done any form of tutoring, you must not receive money for tutoring for it to apply as "service." 

• Regular activities for clubs and friend groups, including Hawk Pals, are not service - they are a normal and expected part of being with a group.  If the club or group performs a service project together, however, that would be "service." [Updated for 2025]

• You may not have your verification form(s) signed by a family member.  

• No packets will be reviewed without a signature of an activity sponsor/supervisor for "leadership," attesting to the accuracy of the students' descriptions. 

• No packets will be reviewed without signatures for service with an in-school activity, or letters/hours sheets for out-of-school service activities, as appropriate.

Although service requirements have been somewhat modified due to extraordinary conditions, service for students invited into membership will be strictly upheld.  Students who are invited and accept an invitation to membership will have to develop opportunities for service to maintain membership.

What are the criteria for acceptable Character?

A student of acceptable character will display respect for school rules, honesty, fairness, courtesy, and respect for peers and adults. 

As most of the students at Maine South do not have incidents that require referrals of any kind,  the NHS committee highly scrutinizes those students with any documented disciplinary infractions.  

Additionally, any violations of academic integrity – cheating, plagiarism, copying work or allowing your work to be copied, sharing of test answers, etc. – may all be grounds for denial by the selection committee, whether or not a teacher took disciplinary action.  Similarly, serious disciplinary infractions, bullying, or violations of the District’s “24-7” policy (the Extracurricular Code of Conduct) would be grounds for denial as well.  Please carefully consider this in the choices you make.  

The committee will consider the severity and the year of any infractions on record.  Generally speaking, minor issues that do not repeat and do not show a pattern will not be considered or weighed against a student if they occurred more than one school year ago (i.e.; an incident as a freshman will not be considered to reflect badly upon a junior, provided that the issue was not an extremely serious breach of school policy, and provided that further incidents have not occurred).

We believe that, even more important than a disciplinary issue itself, is the degree to which a student can demonstrate that they have learned from mistakes and adjusted their behavior.  IMPORTANT: Academically eligible students who have ANY recent disciplinary issues on their record within the previous 12-months, or serious disciplinary issues on record from any point in their high school career are invited to submit a written statement with their packet, or to record and submit a video for the committee to view.  The statement or video should include the following:

1. An honest explanation of the incident that occurred

2. An explanation of why the behavior in question was not acceptable

3. An explanation of how the student has learned from the experience

Written explanations must be 500 words or less, or confined to a single, double-spaced page in a 12-point font.

Video explanations must be 3 minutes or less in length, and should be sent by school email to Mr. McArthur-Self by or before the packet submission deadline listed at the top of this page.

Evidence of disciplinary issues without student reflection may be considered by the committee as evidence that the candidate has not shown growth or learning from the experience.

In addition, all Maine South faculty and staff are also invited to comment on the character of students who apply to NHS based on their knowledge of applicants from class or activities, and this information can affect the selection committee's evaluation, whether or not there was disciplinary action taken.  If you have further questions, please contact Mr. McArthur-Self.

Who will become a member of National Honor Society?

Eligible students who are evaluated as showing acceptable character, strong leadership, and strong service will be invited by the Faculty Advisory Committee to become members of NHS.  Students invited will be notified in writing by regular mail, and those who accept and return the commitment form as New Members will be inducted in a ceremony in October.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Mr. McArthur-Self in A102, or via email at dmcarthur@maine207.org.