Unraveling the Mysteries of National Honor Society

What is National Honor Society? Is it a secret cult within the school? Is it really hard to get into? What do you actually do as part of the National Honor Society (NHS)?

First and foremost, as Olivia Cuneen ‘19, a co-president of NHS, puts it,“Its purpose is to recognize outstanding high school students that not only excel academically, but in service, leadership, and character.” There are four pillars that are very significant to NHS selection: scholarship, leadership, service, and character. There are specific requirements that you must meet during your high school career before you can be accepted into NHS. Amelia Lam ‘19, a member of the NHS board, says that “Students are chosen based off a consistent grade point average of 90+ maintained throughout their first three years of high school which fulfills the scholarship pillar. Leadership, service, and character are then looked at based off teacher recommendations. In addition, you must write some sort of writing supplement that generally explains why you should be in NHS, who you are, etc.”

So all of this work is needed, but for what? What does one get out of joining NHS? After being inducted into NHS, members can get community service by helping teachers, tutoring, and other community service opportunities. The NHS induction ceremony entails the NHS board, made up of several seniors, lighting candles while reading quotes about each pillar. Then, every NHS inductee has to recite in unison an allegiance to NHS and promise they will uphold the values important to NHS. Some might remember that last year’s members tutored people in the library on Mondays and Tuesdays in specific subjects for community service. If a person was struggling with Trigonometry, for example, then they could go to the library and get help from an NHS member. It’s too early to know for sure if NHS will do exactly what they did last year, but they do plan on tutoring. Ms. Mercure is the advisor for the club, and as such, is responsible for judging whether students get inducted into NHS. Cuneen ‘19 has explained that NHS will be more organized and will encourage its members to participate in community service by being happy to donate their time rather than seeing it as a chore.

NHS members have to be absolutely willing to do community service and participate in events planned by the club. So if you’re a freshman or a sophomore, then I implore you to start doing community service, develop good relationships with your teachers, and plan to apply to NHS!