Wanting to Join the NHS?

The National Honor Society is a service organization that provides students with the opportunity to learn about leadership and service within their community. 

“Chapter membership not only recognizes students for their accomplishments, but challenges them to develop further through active involvement in school activities and community service”(https://www.nhs.us/about/).

What is a chapter?

A chapter is the group of students who participate in the NHS. They are organized into a student body by an advisor.

Who is the Advisor for our chapter?

Mrs. Settle is the Advisor for our chapter, and she does a dang good job of things too. I asked her some common questions about the NHS.

What is the NHS?

“The NHS is an old organization, it’s called the National Honor Society…” “… It focuses on scholarship, service, leadership, and this other kind of intangible character element. It basically means that you’re a decent person,” She adds with a smile.

Why is it an Honors Society?

“It’s an honor’s society,” Mrs. Settle explains, “ because it’s service and leadership, but it’s also that character element, of, if you are a good person.”

“You wouldn’t have somebody who constantly gets in trouble for beating people up or something at the highschool. It’s a higher expectation: That you look out for other people.”

Why should students join the NHS?

“It looks great on resumes. It shows that you are interested in other people because it’s a service organization. But you are also promoting excellence. And it’s fun! There are good people here.”

How do students join the NHS?

“In other years we might have a more formal application process, but this year because things are crazy, and I’m a fairly new advisor you need to meet the requirements: A three-point-five GPA, need to be in decent standing, no suspensions, expulsions, those type of things.”

“And you need to be willing to be involved in service organizations. If you aren’t involved in our service projects, you need to do your own. Email me to get on the email list if you are interested.”

Can you get kicked out of the NHS?

Mrs. Settle chuckled lightly at this question. “Uhmm, technically yes, if you didn’t participate, you kind of remove yourself. I’ve had students who have done this in the past, where they say ‘I want to be’ and then they don’t.”

“Students oftentimes just remove themselves, because they are too busy, can’t do service projects. Their mom just forced them, and they almost remove themselves. I’ve never had an issue where somebody got in trouble, or expelled, or their GPA dropped dramatically.” 

“We would work with people. However, the ideal situation is that you maintain the GPA. For leadership it’s a three-point-7. That’s about it.”

I hope this article answers any questions, especially for those who are on the fence about joining or not. You can email Mrs. Settle to sign up or to ask any questions about NHS at andrea.settle@juabsd.org. 

Picture source: https://www.onslow.k12.nc.us/cms/lib/NC02213593/Centricity/Domain/6579/National_Honor_Society_logo.jpg