by Hazel Taintor
The National Honor Society recently closed this year’s applications from sophomores, juniors, and seniors for entrance into this prestigious club. Currently, a committee of faculty members is going through these applications to see which students not only meet the requirements but go above and beyond in every aspect of their life.
For those unaware, the National Honor Society is an organization that seeks to elevate high school students through scholarship, leadership, service, and character. Students involved participate in many service opportunities and other activities in order to uphold and enhance these values in their communities and themselves. So although an outstanding educational society, it is also an organization that completes hundreds of service hours a year.
The society was established in 1921 by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, becoming the first nationwide honor society to be founded. Although only comprising one school when it was started, there are around 13,000 chapters at present.
Each school has slightly different requirements to be accepted into the club, but all follow basic outlines. In accordance with scholarship, a student must have a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale. To follow service, one must have completed a minimum number of service hours.
Although both the application and society are very illustrious, it is for good reason. Students that include being a member of the National Honor Society on their resume receive many benefits as they move forward in the world. According to Land, some of these benefits include, “recognition of academic achievement . . . looks great on college applications . . . access to community service opportunities . . . recognition at graduation.” When a student has NHS on their resume, it stands out to colleges and employers because of the values of the society and who that person must be to have been accepted. Being a member can also help with attaining scholarships because distributors look for similar qualities as employers and universities. Moreover, the wonderful perk about the NHS is that once a person becomes a member, they never have to reapply. They become a member for life.
As the school year moves forward, it is exciting to see who will be accepted and what the club will be undertaking this year.