Now that school has started, many clubs and organizations are starting and there is one in particular, seen across the nation, which not many students know too much about – National Honor Society (NHS).

“NHS is a service organization for juniors and seniors only,” junior Mary Fry said.

Students must start off early on to fulfill the requirements for being a NHS member. As stated on the NHS Blackboard site, members must excel in four areas: scholarship, leadership, service and character.

To meet the scholarship requirement, students must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.6 at the end of their sophomore or junior year.

As for leadership, students must have participated in at least three school activities. Each year a student is a member of an organization counts as an activity.

“This includes sports, clubs, band or orchestra, yearbook, and so on,” freshman Jasmine Male said.

Service refers to the 30 hours of volunteering required, starting from the summer after eight grade year. After being inducted, NHS members need 15 hours of service per year.

There is an application required to be filled out by prospective members found online.  Using this, a faculty selection committee chooses NHS members. The staff also looks at the students’ character- their integrity, positive behavior, cooperation and ethics.

After NHS members are selected, they perform many school and community volunteer activities, including helping out as tutors, fundraising for different causes and aiding those less fortunate.

This year’s NHS advisors were announced recently as Mr. Ken Clark and Mr. Mel Hoffert. They are very excited about the upcoming year for NHS members.

“We are deluged with NHS items,” Hoffert said.

Any questions regarding this national service organization can be directed toward them.