The recent National Honor Society induction ceremony featured 87 juniors and seniors taking the pledge as new members.  

Principal John Ravizza, Associate Principal Greg Masarik and President Kevin Shaw led the induction ceremony while Father Brad Vanden Branden, NDA chaplain, conducted the mass in a chapel full of parents, friends and already-inducted members of NHS.

To be eligible for NHS, students had to have a 3.67 grade point average and have completed 30 hours of community service.  After being inducted, students had to promise to maintain their GPA  and commit to annually completing 15 hours of tutoring.

The mass started off with “In This Place” sung by NHS students also in Music Ministry or choir.

Following the Gospel, Father Brad’s homily focused on society’s craving to be noticed, particularly through social media.  

He told the inductees, “You’ll be noticed as an inductee.  Now the hard part is to notice others and notice God in others, so others can notice God working through you.”

“Christian noticeability,” he said, “is seeing God in each other.”

Members of NHS are expected to be leaders, good students, service volunteers, and persons of character.  As Father Brad asked, “Doesn’t all that come under the idea of ‘character’?”

Officers Chelsea Chrudimsky, Sylvia Griffitt, Diego Mendoza and Alex Wasilkoff initiated the induction part of the evening by highlighting the basic tenets of NHS.  

“It’s amazing to have my hard work recognized. I work really hard to keep my grades up, and it’s great to know that it’s not for nothing,” said Rebecca DeBoer, a new inductee.

“I was very surprised but also very proud. I was excited that I was recognized for working hard for a good academic record and to have opportunities to help others achieve academic goals,” said Deidre Bellmore, another new inductee.

The tutoring requirement can be filled by peer tutoring at school in Student Services or at other places available in the area.

“NHS is a distinctive mult-ifaceted learning experience that provides a solid and meaningful foundation for life,” says the NHS website.

NHS has much more to it than just another club name on one’s college résumé. Membership opens the door to college admission and financial aid planning options, service projects and leadership development programs.

Since its start in 1946, the NHS scholarship program has awarded more than 16,000 scholarships to seniors in NHS.

At the end of the induction service, students recited the induction pledge: “I pledge to maintain my high scholarship standing, to hold as fundamental and worthy an untarnished character, to endeavor intelligently and courageously to be a leader, and to give myself freely in service to others. In doing so, I shall prove myself worthy.”