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New Honor's Program: NJHS

Henry Hudson has had a National Honor Society for many years, but there has never been a program available for middle school and 9th grade. There are many other clubs offered for these grade levels. However, we haven’t had a program for those who go the extra mile! This school year, the Board of Education has decided to add a National Junior Honor Society to the school. With this available, the school and community can recognize the students who are willing and strive to get good grades and provide for the environment of our community.

In order to be eligible for NJHS, you have to meet the requirements:

  • You must be in grades 6-9
  • . You also must reach the qualifications of the 5 pillars. These include: Scholarship, Service, Leadership, Character, and Citizenship.

If the student meets these qualifications, they will receive an opportunity to complete a form that asks them to write a detailed essay about their accomplishments in and commitment to the 5 pillars (from 5th to their current grade). The students who are accepted into membership will be inducted with the other selected students at a ceremony. Once the members are inducted, they should understand the honour to be a part of the NJHS. This is a huge responsibility that requires a lot of time and commitment and chapter meetings. Members must participate in individual and chapter service projects that benefit the school and community. This year’s induction ceremony had presented the NJHS officials. With Jordan Lombardi (President), Maeve Sherlock (Vice President), Lauren McCahon (Secretary) and Layla Ilarraza (Treasurer,) I am sure that they will lead this great group of members to many service projects dedicated to making our school and community a better place to live.

NJHS doesn’t just benefit our community and school, but the people involved as well! It’s an excellent opportunity to develop habits and the standards that lead to success in high school, college, and future career. You will have access and tools needed for college admissions and financial aid planning, financing your college education, service projects, and leadership development, inspiration and motivation. I feel that knowing I am part of a program that helps our society in so many different ways will allow me to have a very successful future in whatever I plan on doing! This program has also given me more ambition to continue to do really well in school and volunteering in any way I can!

Because NJHS is a huge honor, it comes with many benefits for the students’ future. There are tips that you should take to get the most out of your membership. Be sure to attend all of your chapter meetings so you don’t miss out on anything! Communicate; share any ideas and information you might have. Participate in and support all of the chapter service projects. Motivate others by encouraging them to get involved and remain engaged in the chapter’s activities. Help the students in your school to find an activity that they are interested in and enhance their educational experiences. Leading doesn’t necessarily mean to run for an officer--I didn’t and I’m doing as many things as I can to lead--, so volunteer as much as possible. Finally, support your other members, classmates and people of your community!


-Olivia Fair, freshman

US Army STEAM Tank Competition

Can you believe that there are two regional champions of the US Army STEAM Tank Competition at HHRS? The 2022 STEM Academy students have two teams that are moving on to states in the US Army STEAM Tank Competition. These teams include:

Team 1: UV CLEAN, with Maeve Sherlock, Layla Ilarraza, and Chesney Dowds,

Team 2: Digestible Dog Toy, with Samantha Akers, Zoe Bradbeck,and Rebecca Bertekap.

Both teams had to submit an original idea that impacts society today. UV CLEAN is a disinfectant system for airplanes that use lights to clean the plane, as well as filtering the air on the plane to reduce the amount of diseases spread.The digestible dog toy uses certain materials to help dogs to not choke or get sick on the toy that they chewed up and ate. After being accepted, they had to attend the regional competition. Here they faced a panel of judges set up like the popular television show, “Shark Tank." Amongst the 400 challengers competing, they had to present their idea and give a prototype. From there, the teams received feedback on their ideas. On April 9, 2019, the two teams found out they were accepted to state level.

Now in round 3, the HHRS teams will compete at the I-STEAM Green Command Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey on October 22, 2019 and October 23, 2019. They will compete against now 90 finalists for a $100,000 cash prize for the Henry Hudson Regional Steam Academy. The money will be used for future trips, classroom equipment/supplies, and more. These teams are both very excited that they were accepted and have already begun working on their round 3 presentations.

So, what inspired the two teams to create a product that has moved them so far in the competition? When asked, Samantha Akers from Team 2 said “...the thing that inspired our invention was me coming home to Bear (my dog) everyday and seeing all of his toys destroyed...not only was it a huge mess… it was a health risk. Maeve Sherlock responded for Team 1 saying “...I think the idea of being able to change the world for the better by winning this competition, really motivated all of us.”

Win or lose, both of these teams have learned valuable skills that they are sure to carry with them in the years to come.

-Chesney Dowds and Layla Ilarraza, freshmen