About

Student leaders are those who can motivate others, use resources effectively, and innovate to accomplish a goal or objective. Leadership experiences can be drawn from school or community activities while working with or for others.

There are many ways to demonstrate leadership, for example many students have leadership roles in:

• in student government

• sports

• scouting

• religious organizations

• places of employment

While elected or appointed leadership is the ideal, students without leadership titles can still often take initiative to demonstrate outstanding leadership in an organization. For instance a student may have taken the initiative to organize and run a school-wide fundraiser as a member of a service club

All student leaders should be able to articulate their goals/objectives, how they motivated others to become involved, how they used resources/innovated to accomplish their goal/objective, and how their accomplishment(s) bettered the larger community. 

How will my leadership be Evaluated?

Since leadership can take many forms, the committee uses the following rubric to evaluate student leadership. 

Student leaders are those who can motivate others, use resources effectively, and innovate to accomplish a goal or objective. Leadership experiences can be drawn from school or community activities while working with or for others.

There are many ways to demonstrate leadership, for example many students have leadership roles in:

• in student government

• sports

• scouting

• religious organizations

• places of employment

While elected or appointed leadership is the ideal, students without leadership titles can still often take initiative to demonstrate outstanding leadership in an organization. For instance a student may have taken the initiative to organize and run a school-wide fundraiser as a member of a service club

All student leaders should be able to articulate their goals/objectives, how they motivated others to become involved, how they used resources/innovated to accomplish their goal/objective, and how their accomplishment(s) bettered the larger community. 

Serving one's community is done to help a person/organization without receiving compensation.  Service is seen as volunteering in meaningful activities that serve the needs of the general community. The general community is seen as existing beyond family and school, and represents not-for-profit organizations. For example, a student who volunteers to help address envelopes at a realtor’s office is not serving the needs of the larger community, but benefiting a small group of for profit individuals. There are many not-for-profit organizations in the Westhampton Beach community that would benefit greatly from having our students volunteer to help them.  Here are some of the organizations that the Committee has previously accepted for service hours: 

• Bideawee Animal Shelter 

• Camp Good Grief 

• Community Housing Innovations 

• Group for the East End

• Habitat for Humanity 

• Heart of the Hamptons 

• HUGS, inc. 

• Maureen's Haven

• Quogue Wildlife refuge

• Southampton Animal Shelter 

• Southampton Youth Court 

• Wildlife Rescue Center of the Hamptons

• Westhampton War Memorial Ambulance 

• Eastport/East Quogue/Quogue/WHB Fire Department 

This list is non-exhaustive, but is a good sample of the types of organized, verifiable service hours the Committee accepts when reviewing applications.    

Of course, any activity for which you receive compensation will not be considered under this section. 

Documentation / Verification of Service Hours

Service hours must be documented, listing specific details of events / how the service hours were accumulated.  In addition, verifications (authentic signatures or official letters with company/organization letterhead will be required)   

Because of the obvious conflict of interest, unfortunately the Committee cannot consider activities that are only verified by parents, relatives, and/or peers. Usually, an outside person can still be asked to verify your participation. It is rare that there is no one else affiliated with an activity that would necessitate your parent writing the letter. 

Required Service Hours

When applying for membership,  50 hours are required.  

Good character is one of the four pillars of National Honor Society members. The Committee gauges this by checking the discipline record of each applicant. Any record of cheating, plagiarism, intentional dishonesty, or repeated infractions of school policy would disqualify a student from membership in NHS. This applies to criminal offenses in the community as well. Additionally, any dishonesty in completing this application would disqualify a student from membership as well. Students who have committed infractions greater than 12 months prior to application may complete an additional form discussing this infraction. In addition, teachers, coaches, and administrators may be asked to comment on character of applicants.