Just two weeks after I graduated from Central High School in Philadelphia, PA, I began basic training at West Point. After six weeks of push-ups, pull-ups, battle drills, and walking uphill with weights for what seemed like hundreds of miles, I successfully completed cadet training known as “BEAST.” I returned from the woods and immediately […]
Category: Student Voice
How National Honor Society Prepared Me for West Point
American Heart Challenge Provides Accessible Service Opportunities to NHS Students
Since the beginning of the pandemic, National Honor Society (NHS) advisers have faced the challenge of finding service activities that don’t involve big crowds (like charity walks) or extended close contact (like in-person tutoring). When they heard about a volunteer opportunity that students could do through social media and a smart phone app, sponsored by […]
Breathing New Life into One School’s NHS Chapter
2021 marked the centennial of National Honor Society (NHS), a program of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Since its founding in 1921, NHS has recognized and encouraged exceptional student leaders. One such chapter, established a few years after NHS was born, is now gaining new life. Sterling High School (SHS) in the rural […]
Maryland NHS Member in the Spotlight at UNICEF Global Forum
When Stranger Things was such a popular TV show, I was obsessed with Millie Bobby Brown, the British actress and model. One day I was scrolling through Instagram, and I saw on her page that she had been selected as UNICEF’s youngest Goodwill Ambassador. That really caught my eye because she was 14 at the […]
Virtual LEAD Conference Engages Student Leaders and Advisers
Despite the challenges of putting together an engaging virtual conference for more than 2,400 student leaders and advisers, the LEAD Fall Conference earlier this month was a big success, with positive reviews from student and adult attendees alike.
NHS Chapter in Edinburg, Texas, Receives Top Honor
Earlier this month, the Edinburg (TX) High School chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) received one of the 2021 Governor’s Volunteer Awards: the Service-Learning Champion Award.
A Pen Pal Program Expands Students’ Horizons
I was a junior at Valley View High School in Moreno Valley, CA when COVID-19 hit. After classes moved online, I missed talking to my friends in person, and I was really bored. I was also curious about what life during the pandemic was like in different parts of the world. As a member of […]
Virtual Tutoring Program Fills a Need for Many Students
During the pandemic, a lot of the typical in-person opportunities for community service—like tutoring classmates in the library or volunteering at the local nursing home—really weren’t available. Those of us who needed community service hours as members of the National Honor Society had to brainstorm new ideas.
Students Come Together to Help Those in Need
As a growing number of natural disasters have affected people across the country and around the world, students and educators have stepped up their efforts to help those in need. One recent example is Bolton High School in Alexandria, Louisiana, where students have raised money and collected supplies for people still suffering from the damage […]
Supporting Students as Civic Leaders
The world has no shortage of problems. My generation, Gen Z, is being handed a society that is grappling with wealth inequality, voter suppression, healthcare injustice, climate crises, and much more. Especially during this pandemic, the future has never seemed so bleak and hopeless.