By Ryan Burnett, Staff Writer
Being inducted into the National Honor Society (NHS) here at River Hill is one of the highest privileges of high school. National Honor Society is a program that only a couple hundred select Juniors and Seniors are able to get into. The application format is competitive and requires you to have a 3.5 unweighted GPA or higher.
A student might ask themselves “why should I join the NHS?” NHS allows you to become a key member in your community. Activities can include donating to food drives and volunteering. It is a prestigious organization, and at the end of your senior year, you are honored by NHS with a stole which you wear at graduation to show your accomplishment of being a prominent member of NHS.
As of 2022, NHS has been sponsored by two teachers, Ms. Tokar and Ms Casper. Sadly, after many years of fulfilling the job as sponsors, they have parted ways from the National Honor Society. NHS was sponsorless, with members unaware of what the future of NHS would be. Although it may have seemed like NHS was at a dead end, the officers were going to change that.
This past summer, the NHS officers were hard at work deciding who would be the replacement sponsors. After long hours of consideration, that role was filled by Ms. Lucero. With her as sponsor, Ms. Tokar and Ms. Casper passed the torch to a new sponsor. Former NHS sponsor Ms. Casper stated “I think Ms. Lucero is very excited and willing to take on this challenge of guiding Nation Honor Society.” New sponsor Ms. Lucero stated “I’m very honored and excited to be part of this organization”.
She went on to say “NHS is a well-established and respected honors society, and I look forward to working with the River Hill students and community.”
If you are still wondering what will happen next in NHS with the new sponsor, she said “new members can expect more in-person and virtual meetings” and that “the officers are working hard to plan out events in which students can get together, have fun, all while serving the community.”
Senior Mahnoor Rao is the president of NHS for this upcoming year. When asked about the future of NHS she said that she thinks “the future is really bright because we have a sponsor.” The process of actually finding a new sponsor was “very tedious and it took determination and I was going around asking a lot of teachers, but it all worked out in the end.”
NHS may seem like it is in the dark, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Even though members have not known much about what is going on, NHS will still be a largely popular organization that is lasting at River Hill. Rao said for any student thinking about applying should “stay tuned… NHS will be releasing applications soon and will be sending out a lot of announcements.”
Being a member of NHS is overall quite a fun and memorable experience here at River Hill High School, and its future is bright with Ms. Lucero as sponsor. Anyone who decides to join definitely will not regret making the decision and adding to their River Hill experience.