National Honors Society
The Executive Council runs all of the National Honor Society’s projects and organizes activities as well as formulates how to make the club run as smoothly as possible.
The purpose of the National Honor Society is four fold:
- To create an enthusiasm for scholarships
- To stimulate a desire to serve
- To promote leadership
- To develop character
Membership:
Membership in the National Honor Society is both an honor and responsibility. Students selected for membership are expected to demonstrate the qualities of scholarship, leadership, service, and character. The national constitution defines several obligations for members. First, all members are to maintain the standards by which they are selected (continued performance at or above the required 3.0 GPA, involvement in service and leadership projects, etc.). In addition, the constitution expects members to attend meetings if called for, and perform both individual and chapter service projects during the year.
Leadership:
The leadership criterion is considered highly important for membership selection. The student who exercises leadership:
- Is resourceful in proposing new problems, apply principles, and making suggestions.
- Demonstrates initiative in promoting school activities.
- Exercises positive influence on peers.
- Contributes ideas that improve the civic life of the school.
- Is able to delegate responsibilities.
- Exemplifies positive activities.
- Inspires positive behavior in others.
- Demonstrates academic initiative.
- Successfully holds school offices or positions of responsibility
- Conducts business efficiently
- Demonstrates reliability.
- Is a leader in the classroom, at work, and in other school or community activities.
- Is thoroughly dependable in any responsibility accepted.
- Is willing to uphold scholarship and maintain a loyal school attitude.
Service:
Service is generally considered to be those actions undertaken by the student, which are done with or on behalf of others without any direct financial or material compensation to the individual performing the service.
The student who serves:
- Volunteers and provides dependable and well organized assistance, is gladly available, and is willing to sacrifice to offer assistance.
- Works well with others and is willing to take on difficult or inconspicuous responsibilities.
- Cheerfully and enthusiastically renders any requested service to the school.
- Is willing to represent the class or school in inter-class and interscholastic competition.
- Does committee and staff work without complaint.
- Participates in some activity outside of school, for examples, Girl Scout, Boy Scouts, church groups, volunteer services for the elderly, poor, or disadvantaged.
- Mentors persons in the community or students at other school.
- Shows courtesy by assisting visitors, teachers, and students.
School Service
- Organize a health fair
- Run a school clean-up campaign
- Award scholastic letters to deserving students
- Usher at school or public events
- Hold a teacher and staff recognition day
- Participate in school evaluation programs
- Help establish a new chapter of the National Honor Society at another school
- Plan freshman and new-student orientation
- Sponsor a library drive or other programs to bring new educational equipment into the school
- Furnish student representatives for the various school committees
- Organize a good sportsmanship guidebook
- Set up a peer tutoring program
- Welcome and orient new staff members
- Collaborate with other co curricular activity groups on their service projects
Community Service
- Organize individual or group tutoring programs
- Make tape recordings for the blind
- Establish a hospital aide program
- Collect Christmas toys and supplies for hospitalized or underprivileged children
- Sponsor a foster child
- Develop a program of energy conservation
- Volunteer to staff a community hotline
- Promote ecology projects
- Volunteer to be a day-care youth worker
- Undertake a food drive for a local food bank or shelter
- Conduct a bloodmobile with the American Red Cross
- Support a homeless shelter by providing clothing or serving meals
Character:
A person of character demonstrates the following six qualities: respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, fairness, caring, and citizenship. A student of character:
- Takes criticism willingly and accepts recommendations graciously.
- Upholds principles of morality and ethics.
- Cooperates by complying with school regulations concerning property, programs, office, hall, etc.
- Demonstrates the highest standards of honesty and reliability.
- Regularly shows courtesy, concern, and respect for others.
- Observes instructions and rules, is punctual, and faithful both inside and outside the classroom.
- Has powers of concentration, self-discipline, and sustained attention as shown by perseverance, and application to studies.
- Manifests truthfulness in acknowledging obedience to rules, avoiding cheating in written work, and showing unwillingness to profit by the mistakes of others.
- Actively helps rid the school of bad influences or environment.
This is great but how do I get in?
As a student at Western you have to be invited to become a member of the National Honor Society, with a minimum GPA of 3.0. Another requirement is to be formally inducted into the Society is to serve your community, church or school with a minimum of 30 hours every semester and attending monthly meetings (this is a total of 60 hours). Membership fees are $10.00 each semester; you can turn this in to Student Services at the start of each semester.
Want to find out more?
Please feel free to contact Ms. Peterson, the N.H.S. Adviser, through the front office at
