Every year, a select group of juniors and seniors receive the honor of joining the National Honor Society (NHS). This organization is based on four pillars: scholarship, service, leadership, and character.

The induction ceremony took place on October 12 at 6 p.m. Inside the John Carroll auditorium, 58 students officially became members.

 The ceremony began with an opening prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance by NHS President Paige Martin. Then, each of the four pillars was discussed, and a candle was lit for each.

 NHS Vice President Brady Larkin first spoke about scholarship. This is the pillar focused on education and a commitment to learning. Next, NHS Secretary Allison Coyne reflected on service. The service pillar is based on action without reward or recognition.

Rylee Smolenski, a member of the NHS Tutoring Board, spoke about leadership. This pillar promotes sacrifice for the greater community.

Finally, Brady reflected on character, which highlights respect, responsibility, and citizenship.

After the speeches, all new inductees recited the National Honor Society pledge and were called up to the stage to receive their pins and sign their names in the National Honor Society book. Then, guest keynote speaker Tess Gauthier, former health teacher and field hockey coach, offered her remarks.

 New members and their families ended the evening with refreshments and photos.

NHS Co-Moderator Hope Hemphill said, “NHS represents the brightest students in our school who show the best leadership and work towards serving the community and others around them. It is an honor, and it is a very elite group of students.”

In order to become a member of the society, specific requirements must be met. Students must have an unrounded GPA of 4.2 and have completed a certain number of service hours by the beginning of the school year. This year, the class of 2025 needed 40 hours, and the class of 2024 needed 60 hours.

Rising juniors and seniors who are eligible then receive an invitation to apply and must complete five mini-essays.

The final step of the process involves all faculty being asked to rate the applicants on a scale of one to four in character, leadership, and scholarship. Once these ratings are completed, a smaller faculty selection committee meets to discuss and make final decisions.

Students who receive acceptance are notified by the end of September. Juniors who were not accepted have the opportunity to reapply senior year. and seniors can request to be reconsidered at the beginning of semester two.

“Being a part of NHS is really taking responsibility for growing the community. That means tutoring to bring up academic skills; it means modeling what it means as generations change. There are different ways to display excellence, and what our NHS members are doing is they are showing how to do that,” said NHS Co-Moderator Sherri Woosley.

NHS members are required to maintain their GPA and complete two hours of service each quarter, in addition to other NHS duties. These include tutoring, changing the marque sign, and volunteering at the Festival of Lights and Discovering JC events.

Paige said, “Being in NHS means a lot to me because it is a community that reflects aspects of scholarship, leadership, service, and character. These are all very important to me.”

Senior Inductees: Cara DiMino, Natalie Fox, Addison Kropkowski, Wyatt Leach, Valentina Lumaro, Dylan Nagy, Graham Sporney
Junior Inductees: Zara Annan, Samantha Bender, Addison Biscoe, Caroline Bomboy, Ella Campbell, Makayla Casey, Mariangela Castellano, Addison Chalmers, Sara Chhun, Claire Colon, Gianna DeBrigida, Evan DeVoe, Olivia DiCocco, Peyton Donaldson, Sydney Field, Lauren Friscia, Isabella Garland, Natalie Gotzmann, Jackson Harcarik, Kathryn Hemphill, Alyssa Hughes, Elizabeth Hughes, Nelia Kelleher, Emmerson King, Grace Marchetti, Gray McMullen, Sophia Moskunas, Madelyn Mullahey, Emma Nichols, Hayden Niedzialkowski, Matthew Ohler, Joshua Ormido, Taylor Pate, Tony Pate, Margaret Patterson, Mary Proctor, Mia Romano, Arjun Sagar, Olivia Schaub, Camille Sergeon, Sara Shorts, Christopher Snyder, Nicholas Sohn, Elle Turner, Nicholas Urzynicok, Sophia Vail, Lillian Walker, Madeline Wassin, Amelia Watts, Tyler Westermeyer, Kelsey Zurkowsky