NHS stands for National Honor Society, which is a service organization for students who exemplify the traits of scholarship, leadership, service, and character. It is the highest honor that the faculty can confer upon a student.
While NHS is considered a club at Hamburg Area High School, not every student can sign up to join. Since it is an honor society, students who meet the grade requirements are invited to apply to the society. After the applications are considered, new members are chosen and inducted at the induction ceremony held each year. Students who are accepted are inducted at the end of their junior year and are members through their senior year.
NHS is dedicated to helping the community and serving those around them. Members of the club complete service projects to demonstrate their dedication to giving back to the community. These service projects include, trash clean-up at local parks, making blankets to donate to Safe Berks, donating handmade jewelry or suncatchers to local nursing homes or hospitals, donating to charities, making cookies or other thank you cards for the faculty and staff at the high school, and helping the PTOs of our elementary schools with their events.
Mrs. Bucheit has been the advisor of NHS for six years. She helps to run meetings, plan service projects, source materials, and provides any insight that students need. Her favorite part about being the advisor is working with a great bunch of students to serve our community. She notes, “Our service projects have a positive impact on the lives of others, and I am proud to be a part of that.”
NHS President, Shelby Dougherty, plays an important role in the club. As president, she helps to run meetings, come up with ideas for service projects, and keep other members up to date on service opportunities. Her favorite part of being in NHS is having the ability to work creatively towards making our community better. She comments, “I am able to help come up with and execute community service projects that would not be possible without NHS.”
Invitations to the juniors who have met the requirements to apply will be sent out the second week of February. They will then begin the application process that includes listing community service hours, extracurricular activities, and writing an essay, among other things. The induction ceremony for new members will be held on April 24.
While academics are what gets students the invitation, NHS is about much more than what students can do in a classroom. Shelby Dougherty notes, “Yes, our members are gifted academically, but they also apply themselves in the other pillars of NHS such as character, service, and leadership.” Members of NHS care about giving back to the community and trying to make a difference. NHS provides them the opportunity to do something good for the community as high school students. Shelby Doughtery also recommends that new members run for an officer position. She notes, “It is extremely rewarding to not only participate in the service project, but to play a hand in planning them.”
Additionally, being a member of National Honor Society looks great on college applications and can be helpful when applying for college honors programs or scholarships. Many of the NHS members are very involved in their community and are looking towards their futures. Being part of the National Honor Society can be a helpful tool towards success, not only in college applications, but in any aspect of a member’s future. The skills, tools, and mentality that NHS provides are applicable in any situation and will provide members with the confidence they need to succeed.
