Since its creation in 1921, the National Honor Society has served to recognize high school juniors and seniors who have shown excellence in scholarship, service, leadership and character. It was the first such organization to be established nationwide, quickly emerging as one of the country’s leading education groups. 

Every year, over 1 million high school students participate in NHS activities, which has included dozens of Cathedral students every year since the school first opened a chapter decades ago. 

On April 28th, the juniors who have applied and been admitted will be honored in the Welch Activity Center as they are officially inducted into the NHS. Those students who were admitted are required to sign a contract stipulating that for the remainder or their high school years they will maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.6, meet the NHS service and leadership requirements, and overall uphold the values and morals that the society preaches. 

The NHS chapter is moderated by faculty members Mrs. Lisa Ford and Mr. Joshua Payne-Elliott, who are responsible for overseeing the activities of current NHS members and aiding the application process, among other duties. 

Ford said, “I have been working with NHS for close to 20 years. I believe in the organization, because it is focused on the whole person, much like Cathedral or the Holy Cross core values. It is much more than academic honors or the honor roll.” Mrs. Ford is naturally heavily involved in the event in the WAC, which she asserts is a special evening.

“The induction ceremony is not only an opportunity for the student, but also for their families to be recognized as being models of character, service, leadership and scholarship. It is the formal process of accepting their responsibilities as members,” Ford said. One of the special aspects of the upcoming induction is that all of the current senior members who will soon graduate will also be present, as they symbolize the passing of the torch to the next year of leaders. 

One such senior, Ava Sweeney, shared her reflections on being an NHS member and her own induction last year. “NHS has provided me with many opportunities to serve other students, which assisted me in enhancing my leadership and teaching skills. 

Participating in NHS is also a great way to help Cathedral,” she said. “The induction ceremony was a good way to see all of my peers who would be in NHS with me, and to celebrate our achievement and look to the future.”

Every year, dozens of students apply and are accepted to become members, which provides them a sizable number of peers to help hold each other accountable. 

Anya Neumeister, a junior who has accepted into NHS, shared why she applied and her expectations for the induction. 

“I chose to apply for NHS because it is an opportunity to serve the community at Cathedral by providing services such as tutoring,” Neumeister said. “I think that the induction ceremony while a special celebration of the accomplishments of the many students, while also emphasizing the importance of maintaining these standards in the future.” During the induction, the new members will be processed two by two into the Welch Activity Center accompanied by music, where they will individually receive their official certificates. Students will then be honored with the school’s traditional Irish blessing, and then proceed out the way they entered as the music resumes. 

Accompanied by their families and all of the senior members, this process will serve as a way to honor and recognize these new role models. Cathedral’s high participation rates in the NHS year after year show that the students take the opportunity seriously. 

After all, as Ford said, “Who wouldn’t want to be a part of something like that?”