Are you a high school student seeking to join the National Honor Society? Do you need more information about the NHS and what it’s about? If you answered yes to any or all of the above questions, then you are in the right place. This article offers all the necessary information about the National Honor Society and what it stands for. The National Honor Society is a voluntary organization that recognizes outstanding academic performance among high school students. The organization promotes the virtues of scholarship, leadership, good character, and service among high school students.
Before joining this prestigious organization, students are required to meet specific requirements. Apart from explaining what the National Honor Society is about, this article will also focus on highlighting the conditions for becoming a member of the NHS. Read on to find out more about the National Honor Society.
What Does the National Honor Society Do?
What Does the National Honor Society Do? The National Honor Society, popularly called NHS, is an organization dedicated to elevating the values of leadership, service, academic excellence, and character among high school students. The organization believes that these four pillars would help them recognize and mentor students that will become future world leaders. Over time, the organization has done an excellent job of identifying and encouraging outstanding students in high school.
The organization was founded in 1921 and has since become one of the most popular high school clubs across the country, with chapters spread across all American states. Besides elevating schools’ commitment to service and leadership values, the NHS also teaches high school students to be of valuable service to society. It also engages in occasional community service as an avenue for students to give back to the society that made them. As a result, the NHS chooses to look beyond students’ academic achievements, even though that’s a critical criterion for becoming a member.
NHS students volunteer in their communities at the highest rate. They are typically motivated to help wherever possible while developing their leadership potentials.
What are the Benefits of the National Honor Society?
Like many other high school clubs, the National Honor Society has its numerous benefits. Although students are often advised against been solely motivated by the benefits, we still can’t underplay the many national honor society benefits.
Apart from the urge to serve the community, there are several other benefits that high school students would get from being members of the National Honor Society. Below, let’s discuss some of the popular national Honor society benefits.
1. Offers Students Entry Into a Global Alumni Network
The NHS is one of the world’s largest honor societies. It is very prestigious, offering a wide variety of opportunities, scholarships, and events that connects members to a global network of alumni. Of course, nothing beats the experience you’ll gain traveling around the world and meeting new and exciting people that you can learn new things from. The perk of it is that you will meet intelligent people who share the same leadership goals as you. This way, you’ll learn a new perspective of developing yourself, school, and local environments. The NHS alumni is a lifetime network, so even after high school, you’ll still have opportunities to meet and interact with progressive minds worldwide.
2. Offers Students Great Leadership Experience
One of the main goals of the society is mentoring students to become better leaders. If you are interested in becoming a future leader, then this is the right society to join. The organization leverages conferences and in-house seminars to train students to become better leaders. As members of the club, you’ll be exposed to mentoring from several professionals to become a natural leader. Apart from the series of conferences that you’ll likely attend, constantly participating in community service would also reveal the people’s plight and make you compassionate, which is a top leadership attitude.
3. Teaches Students to be Committed to Community Service
The National Honor Society is an organization that recognizes leadership ability in addition to academic excellence. Therefore, it focuses on overall integrity and achievements within and outside the classroom, which is why most outstanding students are willing to join it. However, apart from recognizing and mentoring leadership talents, the organization is also built on the precepts of encouraging community service. Students are exposed at an early age to an understanding of the need to help people. They grow into the habit of helping society and offering assistance to people that need it. There’s a level of fulfillment that comes with knowing that you can help people when they need you to, and that’s what the NHS helps its members achieve.
4. Offers You an Opportunity to Express Yourself
Another outstanding benefit of joining the NHS is the opportunity it offers students to express themselves freely. Over the years, many people have admitted to joining the organization because it gives them a platform to express themselves to people who understand them. Since the organization consists of students with like minds, members would be able to ask questions and share their opinions without the fear of being judged. While most other clubs would limit themselves to specific fields, the National Honor Society offers endless opportunities to its members. This includes the liberty to select your choice kind of volunteering. You’ll also get a chance to choose the type of projects you are interested in handling. While making your choice, you are almost assured that you’ll find people who want to support you morally and otherwise.
5. Helps Your Resume
For most people, this is a driving force for becoming part of the NHS. You are not just getting the satisfaction of helping society and seeing people happy. Membership of the club also looks good on your papers. One look at your resume and people would know that you are an excellent student who has given time to learn leadership and service. Apart from upgrading your resume, you’ll also be exposed to opportunities to learn new skills and gain valuable experiences that will help your career and pursuit of leadership opportunities. Community Service is a big part of any application, and membership to the NHS is an excellent way to show off your desire to serve.
6. College Admission
Including that you have served as a member of the NHS in your high school would add more weight to your college application. Most colleges do not overlook members of the NHS alumni when offering admission. In addition to this, the NHS holds occasional webinars and conferences where they expose members to the inside scoop of how college admission works. Therefore, you’ll get to learn how to submit the best application for your college goals.
7. Scholarships
The NHS awards over 400 scholarships to its members annually. However, only high school students in good standing with their school’s chapter of the organization are eligible to apply for the scholarship.
This scholarship program serves as motivation to many students to strive towards being members of the NHS.
There are several other benefits attached to being a member of the NHS. However, we’ve highlighted the most important benefits to give you a clue of what you stand to gain by joining the organization. You can check the NHS annual publications to find out more about the numerous benefits of joining the NHS.
How Does a High School Student Get Into the National Honor Society?
First of all, let’s start by mentioning that membership of the National Honor Society (NHS) is mainly determined locally. Therefore, it’s essential to check that your school is listed among the NHS schools before applying. Typically, this will involve locating your local chapter of the NHS and asking the questions where necessary. You can find your local chapter by searching on their chapter finder online or asking your school’s guidance counselor.
You don’t have to panic if your school doesn’t have a local NHS chapter. Simply talk to an advisor about starting one. Although it is not allowed for students to found chapters by themselves, they can suggest to the right authorities to handle the procedures. During the application process, your school would need a faculty adviser, and a faculty council made up of five members. Your school will also need to pay $385 as annual membership fees.
Becoming an NHS Member
Once you’ve confirmed that your school has an NHS chapter, you are ready to move to the next stage. Speak to the chapter adviser to learn about the required cumulative GPA as well as the timeline when qualified students will be invited to submit their applications.
NHS Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for a membership invitation, students must be in grades 10-12 and meet all the membership requirements as set by their school’s NHS chapter.
To this effect, chapters are required to clearly publish their qualification requirements, which will be based on the four pillars of NHS.
Service
The requirements must include the minimum voluntary contributions to be made by students before being accepted into the organization.
Academic Excellence
Based on national guidelines, students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 85, a semester GPA of 3.0 out of a possible 4.0, or an equivalent standard of excellence. A school chapter can, however, require a higher CGPA.
Character
Students must show signs of corporation, reliability, compassion, courtesy, and respect for people. Students must also maintain clean disciplinary records to be considered eligible to join the NHS.
Leadership
As part of its requirements, the NHS only considers student leaders that demonstrate a good level of resourcefulness, problem-solving, and idea contributions. Students can draw leadership experience from school activities.
How Hard Is It to Get Into the NHS?
Like any other extracurricular activity, being a part of the National Honor Society requires time and commitment from its members. At least, you’ll need to attend meetings regularly. You would also be required to participate in individual and chapter projects. You are advised to check your local chapter’s obligations before committing to avoid being overwhelmed with work in the long run.
Getting into the NHS is not so difficult, as long as you meet the academic and character requirements highlighted in this article. The first stage is locating your local NHS chapter and reviewing their membership requirements. Note that different local chapters set forth their unique qualification requirements. Therefore, it’s important to search for the publication of your chapter’s requirements and read them carefully. Despite the chapter difference in exact requirements, all are still based on the four pillars of the National Honor Society.
Is Honor Society Worth Joining?
The honor society was founded several decades ago by a small group of students to recognize academic achievements. It has grown since then into the popular organization we know today. Honor societies are different from fraternities and sororities. In fact, many leaders and notable people in society have been members in the time past. Honor societies are typically set up to celebrate the academic achievements of outstanding students. It doesn’t only look good on the resume of members, but it also offers several different grants and fellowships to distinguished members.
Despite the rigidity of the requirements needed to join honor societies, some students are still not entirely convinced of the need to join. Most of such students are not aware of what the organization is really about. The main aim of honor societies is bringing like-minded students together to be part of prestigious projects.
What is the NHS Scholarship?
The NHS Scholarship is a scholarship program started to motivate outstanding students. The National Honor Society, through its scholarship board, had awarded over $15 million in scholarships to deserving students. Annually, the society adopts a strict screening procedure to identify and reward students that are committed to the four pillars of the NHS – leadership, academic excellence, character, and service.
Wrapping Things Up: What is the NHS in High School?
The NHS is a prestigious high school society that encourages academic excellence and community service among high school students. The organization has a long-standing history of mentoring future leaders. It is, therefore, not surprising that several national leaders and important personalities passed through the organization. Over time, it has grown to become one of the most popular clubs in high school, despite the rigidity of requirements needed to become a member.
Throughout this article, we’ve discussed the whole scope of the NHS. Starting from scratch, we’ve answered questions “what is the National Honor Society?” and “does the NHS give scholarships?” The information in this article would guide any starter through getting into the NHS. Even if you do not intend to become a member, the article still offers enough exposition to make you aware of what the society is about.
Curious about the difference between NSHSS and NHS? Check out this article to learn which is the best choice for you.
Check out our other guides on different clubs in high school:
> What is Beta Club in High School?
> What is Interact Club in High School and What Can It Do for You?
> What is Key Club and Why Should You Join?
> What is the Junior State of America (JSA) Club?
> What is Forensics in High School?
