National Honors Society Induction Ceremony

126 juniors and seniors were welcomed into National Honors Society on March 20 during the annual induction ceremony in the auditorium.

Students must show their commitment to the four pillars of NHS — service, scholarship, character and leadership — before the ceremony. Candidates had to complete 15 hours of service each semester, having a minimum GPA of 3.5, having no disciplinary referrals and writing two essays about leadership roles they have.

NHS sponsor Melinda DiGirolamo believes this ceremony went the smoothest compared to previous ceremonies in part because she switched it to take place in the spring instead of the fall. This lengthened the time between applying for NHS and getting inducted giving students a longer period of time to complete service hours.

In addition to new members walking across the stage to receive a certificate, reciting the NHS oath and a candle lighting ceremony, each of the four senior officers prepared a speech about a pillar of NHS.

Senior officer Lauren Winston focused on service in her speech, discussing how service has impacted her life.

“Before my mom dropped me off at school everyday she’d be like ‘OK do something good today’ and after school she would ask what good thing I did,” Winston said. “So that’s how I got into service and learned that it isn’t just volunteering but also little acts of kindness to help others.”

The program’s service requirement also drew in junior Ava Stechschulte.

“I’m excited to be in NHS because it motivates me to continue to make time for service work,” Stechschulte said. “Sometimes I get super busy so having service hours as a requirement will encourage me to actually go out and volunteer.”

DiGirolamo believes that the ceremony is important to showcase academic and leadership excellence, as she believes those qualities are often overshadowed by athletics. An email to DiGirolamo from a new NHS member reaffirmed this.

“This student wrote me an email that said… ‘[the ceremony] was very validating for me to hear such congratulatory remarks about our academic and extracurricular activities which are often overlooked in the shadows of athletics,’” DiGirolamo read from the anonymous email.