National Honors Society (NHS) is an organization for upperclassmen who strive to go above and beyond in their academics and development of character. Some acceptance requirements involve 40 community service hours, 3.5 or higher GPA and leadership experience. This school year, the group was in need of a new advisor to lead them.
Math teacher Katie Barbour said she was an involved student throughout her time in high school and took interest in the position as soon as she found out that NHS was seeking a new advisor.“I was in Student Council when I was in high school,” Barbour said. “So I wanted to get involved with something where I could work directly with students on something non-academic.”
To participate in NHS, members must complete 30 hours of service each semester. Although 30 hours is a lot of time to fill, a vast array of opportunities are provided by the group, with the help of Barbour. In years past, most members, such as Kloie Roy ’24, have had plentiful chances to get their hours in.“It’s really put together well and there’s new opportunities almost every week,” Roy said.
With how smoothly NHS has run in the past, Barbour has no set ideas for any changes to the organization so far.“I’m running it how I think it should be run,” Barbour said. “I want it to definitely be very student-led and whatever the students want, because at the end of the day, that’s what it’s there for.”
Although it has been well-run and organized in the past, many feel that there are changes that could be made to improve the activity for students. According to Morgan Deenik ’24, it can be difficult at times to sign up for hours before spots fill up, especially with before-school tutoring.“There’s a lot of (tutoring) hours but a limited amount of spots,” Deenik said. “So sometimes it’s kind of difficult to get all your hours.”
Despite any minor flaws, Deenik said NHS has allowed her to get involved in her community and school, and help others.“I like that it gives you opportunities to get more involved in school activities and parts of the community because you get to help out a lot in the elementary schools,” Deenik said. “ I got to know some elementary school kids because I tutored for a long time last year.”
While Barbour is excited to take on her new role, she still emphasizes to students that there are other opportunities for students if NHS isn’t their thing.“I think sometimes people think that our students alike feel like they have to be an NHS and it’s great if you want to be an NHS and you have the things for it,” Barbour said. “But you know, there’s plenty of other things that can make you a well rounded student, you know, a lot of other things you can be a part of.”
