Many wandering thoughts may go through your mind when hearing the organization called National Honors Society (NHS). NHS is designed for junior or seniors with higher grade point averages (GPA) and also choose to take honors and advanced placement (AP) classes to get recognized for their academic standpoint. Not only does NHS require you to have a GPA of 3.5 or higher, applicants must be taking five or more honors classes and two or more AP classes. Applicants must show they are active in extracurriculars.
In the eyes of NHS director and English teacher Lisa Shear, the main focus is to promote high academic standards and create students to have amazing citizenship. Shear wants to help today’s students obtain strong leadership skills. The skills that are learned and acquired from the organization will be advised to be used to help the members on the college or job applications in the future.
“I doubt membership alone would be the difference between admittance and rejection from college, but the leadership and service students participate in undoubtedly make them attractive candidates,” Shear said. “Those same activities would certainly make students eligible for scholarships that focus on leadership and service criteria.”
Not every student will be eligible to apply for NHS. Along with the GPA and class requirements, there is a long application process. When you first start to apply you must complete surveys concerning service project your may have completed and your leadership opportunities. It is required that the student has done some kind of community service along with collecting five character references, with three of them being from a certified educational personnel.
“Each sophomore or junior that meets the academic qualifications is contacted in the spring, usually March, and invited to submit an application to the National Honor Society,” Shear said. “The club usually only gets applications submitted from between twenty to forty applicants per year.”
Besides academics and extracurriculars, the NHS requires students who are a part of the society to complete ten hours of community service per semester. This aims to assist students in getting out into the community and learn to be a leader, as well as going forward into the next steps of their lives.
“You are learning not only to push yourself and work hard, you are also learning more skills and acquiring community service hours to use on different applications. It’s more than just being smart in school it’s about being involved and being willing to put time into your community,” junior Evie Bartley said.