The National Honors Society is a national club for high school students who show the traits of scholarship, service, leadership, and character throughout high school.

At PHU, students are sent invitations to apply at the beginning of their junior year. In the application they are asked to provide proof that they have shown leadership, service, and strong character during their first two years of high school. In order to apply, students must have already completed at least ten hours of community service, have proof that they have shown leadership, and write about how they have exemplified good character.

Once students have turned in their applications, the club sponsor, Ms. Elizabeth Hodge, posts a list of the accepted students on the window of her classroom and the applicants are sent a letter that states whether they have been accepted or denied.

Students who were denied had the option to repeal and defend their application. In order to repeal, students scheduled meetings with Ms. Hodge where she explained what went wrong with their application. If the student still believed that they should be accepted, they wrote a letter to Dr. Gonzalez, explaining why they believed that they should be accepted.  

Shortly after the students sent in their repeal letters, they were notified that they were either officially accepted or denied.

This year the induction ceremony was on Wednesday, Nov. 14 after a short rehearsal the previous day. At the ceremony, all of the club senior officers gave speeches along with a PHU NHS alumni, Brittany Rainey, and principal, Dr. Gonzalez. The inductees also recited the NHS pledge. After the speeches and the pledge, the inductees were each called up on stage to be recognised and were given their certificate.

The first meeting for this year’s new members was on Tuesday, Dec. 4 and the NHS senior officers explained everything NHS members do during the year and the requirements new members will need to fulfill in order to stay in the club and not go on probation. Members must keep their GPA at the NHS standard, 3.0 unweighted and 3.5 weighted, and complete a certain amount of service hours through the Honors Society by the end of the year. The amount of service hours that needs to be completed is based on the member’s grade level.

“I’m excited to be in the Honors Society because of the chance to meet new people and make new friends and the opportunity to serve our community where it is needed,” said Avery Gross (20’).