National Honor Society
Contact:
2:40 Pm
Application deadline for the 2021-22 school year is August 31st, 2021
Application
NHS Candidate Selection Description
Requirements
• Must be in grades 10th, 11th or 12th
• Have a cumulative unweighted high school GPA of a 3.0 or higher
• Have a satisfactory recommendation from a teacher or other adult sponsor (coach, mentor, etc.)
• Have ONE or more of the following high school experiences:
Community service or other volunteer hours
Leadership experiences in a club, team or other organization
Work experience
Awards, honors, or other accolades
What is NHS?
No two educational journeys are the same. Some may look similar, but taking certain courses or course loads, participating in specific activities, and achieving coveted honors and prizes do not define values. While we believe in the significance and power of recognition, the pillars of the National Honor Societies are not limited to student members alone. National recognition programs like the National Honor Society strive to place a much-needed emphasis and spotlight on whole-person growth.
National Honor Society membership is invitation-only and a specific honor. But Everyday Scholarship, Service, Leadership, and Character are shared values of schools, communities, and families.
Everyday Scholarship is a commitment to learning and growing on an educational path. It means making the most of the educational opportunities provided and seeking out learning, not only in school but personally. Everyday Scholarship doesn’t require a minimum GPA—but it does require effort. More importantly, it stems from a desire to contribute to this world in a positive way by building on your own knowledge, skills, and talents through new experiences.
Everyday Service is seeking out and engaging in meaningful service. It calls for a service mindset, the desire to seek opportunities to help others as well as acts of service. Honor Society students are required to meet minimum service participation requirements, yet many say service activities are among their most rewarding experiences in the program.
Everyday Service is seeing a need and fulfilling it voluntarily. Sometimes it’s driven by a passion for a specific cause or people in need. Other times, it’s driven by personal or family need, like taking care of siblings or other family members, or maybe even working part-time to help with family finances.
Everyday Leadership builds on Everyday Service—and leadership and service can often look very similar. Everyday Leadership is carrying yourself with dignity and taking ownership and responsibility for your own actions and participation. Being a public speaker, playing quarterback, or having an official title is not required for Everyday Leadership. Everyday Leadership means being an agent—someone who takes action and responsibility—of your own pathway.
Everyday Character is valuing diverse cultures and building relationships that reflect love of self but also concern for others. There are endless attributes to good character: perseverance, respect, integrity, honesty, sacrifice—the list goes on. Good and noble character is a high calling. We don’t often “see” character unless there is a public display of self-sacrifice or, more frequently, a very public mistake. Everyday Character is not about praiseworthy or blameworthy behavior but the personal commitment to ethical and compassionate decision making that affects you and others. (www.nhs.us)
Benefits
*Membership is registered with the national NHS organization registry, so that you can confidently put this membership on your college application
*Club sponsored community service opportunities to help others and earn hours towards Bright Futures both on- and off-campus
*Opportunities to pursue extra-curricular activities
*Opportunity to apply for a NHS scholarship in your Senior year.
*Access to the online volunteer tracking service x2vol which can track all your volunteer hours, whether they are with NHS or not, and create a "Volunteer Transcript" for you to use all through high school, for college applications, scholarships, etc.
History
The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) officially established NHS in 1921. Though many local and regional honor societies existed prior to 1921, no nationwide organization had been founded. Under the leadership of Dr. Edward Rynearson, principal of the Fifth Avenue High School in Pittsburgh, the organization grew from the original Alpha Chapter at the Fifth Avenue School to more than 1,000 chapters by 1930. Equipped with a constitution, an emblem and motto, and a group of dedicated principals as coordinators, the new NHS organization quickly developed into one of the country’s leading educational groups.
NHS will celebrate its centennial anniversary on March 1, 2021. Visit our NHS Centennial page to join the celebration!