National Honor Society is a service organization made up of the top academic students in high schools. Every year, sophomore and junior students with a GPA of at least 3.7 have the opportunity to join the NHS program and give back to the community through local service projects. The accepted applicants are officially inducted into the organization during a special ceremony each spring.
The NHS induction ceremony is extremely significant to the organization, as it welcomes the new inductees into a prestigious organization where they are given opportunities to be a part of a community and be leaders. The four pillars of excellence are heavily implicated in NHS; leadership, scholarship, service and character.
“Being a part of NHS means having a lot of leadership which we are very proud of,” senior NHS president Justin Pedersen said. “We want to really exemplify what it means to be a good student at Antioch with these qualities.”
During the induction, family and friends of the new inductees can come to watch the students become a part of the organization. Every year, a guest speaker is nominated to give a speech encouraging character and leadership; this year’s speaker is the social studies department chair at ACHS, Anne Eichman. Current members of NHS will then introduce the new members and welcome them to the stage to receive their certificates. This allows the current members to learn more about the new inductees, and properly welcome them into the organization.
“I’m most looking forward to hearing the bios of what everyone said about themselves while also welcoming in these new people and getting to know them,” senior officer Emma Patel said.
Once everyone has officially been inducted, they recite their oath to NHS. They promise to stay loyal to the commitments of being a leader in the school and community, as well as maintain and encourage high standards of service, scholarship, character and leadership. The four pillars of NHS are the most important qualities that new inductees learn to utilize during their time in NHS.
The most captivating part of the induction is the candlelighting ceremony. During this ceremony, current members and the new inductees form a united circle around the auditorium while holding candles. Current members light their candles first and pass their flames down to the new inductees around the circle until everyone has a candle with a flame.
“Each candle represents one of the four pillars,” assistant NHS advisor Kelly McCracken said. “The symbolism of lighting everyone’s candle is the commitment to those four pillars and being united as a group.”
During this year’s induction, NHS will welcome 57 new inductees into the organization. Join the ceremony at ACHS to support the inducted Sequoits as they are officially enrolled into this prestigious program.
