Club Spotlight: NHS
Kick-starting Operation Christmas Gift continues to benefit the community
National Honor Society has been apart of Leander since 1971 and has been an annual participant for Operation Christmas Gift. Their certificate must be renewed every year.
November 12, 2015
National Honor Society, NHS, is a national service organization that recognizes students who have shown intellect, leadership and involvement in school, work, and the community. Adding roughly 90 juniors and seniors this year, it is hosted by AP English 3 and IB Psychology teacher Greg Shaw, has a total of near 160 students, and has meetings one Wednesday per month.
“The best part of it is probably seeing how much, specifically teenagers, are willing to volunteer and help people out,” Shaw said. “It’s something that I feel like you have as a teenager and a college student to volunteer and so it’s fun seeing that kind of energy in them.”
Needing an average GPA of 4.5 to be considered, the candidates are then put through a evaluation process of involvement and, if accepted, go through induction. Each member must complete 10 community service hours every semester by being involved in community and charity events such as Operation Christmas Gift, Relay for Life, the many fall and winter fests occurring in local elementary schools, and collecting recycling around the school.
“It’s cool and the officers are really nice,” junior Frida Ballard said. “I’m doing the Operation Christmas Gift right now, and I think it’s a really great idea. Not a lot of kids get presents from anyone at all, so this is a way to think outside the box and get what you would have liked to have and give it to kids.”
After undergoing an election and interview process, NHS is now run by an all-senior female troupe of officers, with Alexa Urrea serving as president, Morgan Sherry as vice-president, Katie Pitchford as secretary, Hannah Renault as treasurer and Hailey Evans as the public relations officer.
“I feel like I have learned a lot of really important skills through NHS,” Renault said. “I have been able to self-advocate and work with others as well as see the importance of community work and how it helps. Everyone is really nice, and it’s great to be around people who strive to improve the community.”
