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National Honor Society

National Honor Society

National Honor Society Advisor - Breiana Brooks

What is National Honor Society?

The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nation-wide organization in American high schools, founded in 1921 by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Its headquarters is in suburban Washington, D.C. There are now over 20,000 chapters. Many of the more than 6,000,000 members have distinguished themselves in all phases of American society. NHS gives recognition to high school students who are distinctive in four areas: Scholarship, Service, Leadership, and Character.

Walled Lake Western NHS Bylaws

(viewable via WLCSD google account only)

Purpose

The purpose of NHS is to draw attention to the values in education (character, scholarship, leadership, service) by honoring those students who demonstrate those qualities. The organization involves itself with service-oriented projects within the school. For example, here at Walled Lake Western, members have at various times ushered at graduation and at PTSA events, tutored fellow students and elementary school children, worked concessions at some athletic events, donated money to our library for an expensive book, and established a scholarship fund to aid one of its own members.

Selection

Each year in the spring semester, qualified juniors will be evaluated in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service, and character by the professional staff and the NHS Faculty Advisory Committee to be selected for membership in this national organization that recognizes outstanding high school achievement. The national office of NHS strongly recommends that the selection procedure be published to faculty, parents and students.

Membership

A minimum accumulative GPA required into NHS varies with the entering grade. Incoming juniors and seniors are invited to apply with an overall GPA of 3.50. All members MUST maintain the GPA requirement. There is no deviation from this requirement. Academic rigor, attendance, discipline history, school activities, and leadership experiences are evaluated by the school faculty on a point system. The compiled results of those evaluations are considered by a faculty advisory committee. Those whose ratings meet the committee's criteria are accepted for membership.

A student may be dropped from NHS if his/her grade point average falls below the required grade level GPA. A warning letter is sent after the first low semester marking. If his/her grades for the following semester do not return to the required GPA, the student will be dismissed from membership and is required to return all certificates of membership, pins, etc. The exception to this rule is seniors whose cumulative GPA falls below 3.5 in the 7th semester of high school. These students cannot receive a warning due to timing circumstances and will be removed from membership. Members must adhere to the National Honor Society Constitution and the Walled Lake Western Chapter Bylaws at all times and abide by the requirements within.

Induction Ceremony

This is a short ceremony, for new members and their parents, where current officers explain the constitution and functions of National Honor Society. This ceremony typically occurs in the spring.

After Membership

It is expected of members that they continue to set good examples of high standards of scholarship, service, leadership, and character. Participation in NHS activities is also expected. Relay for Life and after school tutoring are both required activities for NHS members. Only active members will be eligible to wear the silver honor cords at graduation ceremonies.

Recognition

The fact that a student belongs to NHS is noted on his permanent high school record. College admissions officers see NHS membership as a label of distinction. At commencement, NHS member's names are starred on the graduation program. At Walled Lake Western, members wear distinctive silver cords on their graduation robes.

Selection

Walled Lake Western has had a chapter of the NHS since 1971, our second year of operation. Each year in the fall semester, qualified juniors and seniors will be evaluated in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service, and character by the professional staff and the NHS Faculty Advisory Committee and are selected for membership in this national organization that recognizes outstanding high school achievement. The national office of NHS strongly recommends that the selection procedure be published to faculty, parents and students. Accordingly, the selection procedure is outlined below. Students who are academically eligible for consideration will be informed of this procedure in an assembly.

Scholarship

According to our chapter constitution a student is eligible for consideration after four semesters of high school are complete and the student has a career (cumulative) grade point average of 3.5. Candidates who are selected must maintain the grade point average which was the basis of their selection, both semester and cumulative, for the remainder of their high school career.

Service

For the purpose of selection into NHS, a student must have participated in school sponsored extra-curricular activities. Therefore, a student entering Walled Lake Western in the ninth grade who maintains his/her requisite career grade point average through the first semester of his/her junior year must have participated in at least two (2) extra-curricular activities. A senior who entered Walled Lake Western in the ninth grade must have participated in at least three (3) activities. These activities include varsity sports, marching band, class office, member of recognized clubs, drama, forensics, etc. The activity must be extra-curricular in nature and represent Walled Lake Western. Please see the extracurricular catalog for a list of qualifying activities. The coach or sponsor of the activity is asked to rate a candidate's personal qualities of citizenship, leadership and character as they represented Walled Lake Western in the activity on a five point scale.

Leadership

These characteristics are evaluated by the faculty on a five point scale (5 = exceptional to 0 = does not exhibit characteristics of a NHS member). A student must be evaluated by at least six faculty members. When all three areas of service, leadership, and character are evaluated by the staff who worked with or taught the student, the Faculty Advisory Committee meets to average the ratings and make the final decision as to membership. The Faculty Advisory Committee has established that the student must attain above average ratings in all areas in order to be considered for membership, that is no rating average lower than a 3.0 and at least one 3.5 and one 4.0 rating. The vote of the Faculty Advisory Committee is final.

National Honor Society Tutoring

Need some extra help? Free tutoring in all subjects is available every Tuesday and Wednesday after school in the Media Center. Any questions can be directed to Mrs. Brooks in room A111.