The National Honor Society (NHS) hosted their induction ceremony Monday, October 21, in the Marist gymnasium, alongside a prayer service, to formally accept new members into the society.
NHS is the one of the most well-known organizations in the United States that recognizes high achieving students. They work to improve themselves and their community by following four pillars: scholarship, character, leadership, and service.
Although NHS has a high GPA criteria for students to apply and join, they encourage students to look beyond their grades alone.
“Scholarship is the benchmark for application [to join NHS]. Students need a 3.85 weighted GPA to be invited to apply. Once you’re in, we expect you to uphold those high standards, [but also] to be a presence in our community, to be an example of leadership, and follow Marist’s pillar this year: love of work,” said Ms. Kathleen McArdle, co-moderator for NHS.
At Marist High School, NHS members aid fellow student peers, and help foster the school community in a variety of ways.
“We serve as tutors in the Hawk Lab, and we host quarterly events: Fall Fest on November 3, Breakfast with Santa in December, Academic Challenge for local grade school students, and Marcellin’s Marketplace in the spring,” said McArdle.
NHS also allows for students to personalize their service to their abilities and skills.
“For me, NHS is really what each student makes it out to be. NHS allows you to do service in a way that compliments your own talents. People that are good at academics can volunteer by tutoring, while someone that’s more social can be an elf at Breakfast with Santa,” said Emma Billows, a senior and NHS President.
The majority of students that attended the inauguration ceremony joined NHS, however some were accepted into other honor societies. In addition to the National Honor Society, the event recognized students being inducted into the Art National Honor Society, and three of the World Language National Honor Societies: Spanish, Italian, and French.
During the ceremony, the main gym was filled with seats to accommodate the inductees. Their families, who were invited to attend, sat around the gym in the bleachers. Near the red curtains, several seats were reserved for the presidents and moderators of each honor society.
Around 6:30 p.m., the inductees (mostly juniors) and their families slowly started to gather into the main gym.
Shortly after 7:00 p.m., Fr. Tom Hurley began the prayer service/induction ceremony. He spoke about the importance of celebrating the accomplishments of students. Then, the multiple student presidents of each honor society presented the mission statements of their organizations.
Afterward, Mrs. Joy Lewis, the Dean of Academic Success, called up each student, one by one, to present to them their official acceptance certificate into their national honor society.
The inductees then performed a traditional candle lighting ceremony. Each student lit the candle of another until all the candles were lit. Fr. Hurley then concluded the ceremony with a final prayer.
At that point, the entire gym was filled with applause. Parents began rushing to take photos of their sons and daughters, while students began chatting with each other about the ceremony.
“I liked the ceremony and I think NHS [will be a] good volunteer opportunity for everyone,” said junior Paul Dubiel.
“I think [the induction ceremony] went really well, and it’s a great way to welcome people, and show new members where all their efforts and commitment has led them to,” said Billows.
The National Honor Society continues to encourage future upperclassman students to apply to the organization.
“Hopefully NHS [would be] a community where they can give back and give them an opportunity to demonstrate and develop some leadership skills. Hopefully it’s programming to help develop them as leaders and a great way to do service,” said McArdle.
