The National Honor Society (NHS) is an organization for high school students that recognizes and encourages academic achievement, service, character, and leadership, and that hopes to create future leaders. It aims to prepare students for future success by developing the student into a well-rounded member of society. PA’s chapter of NHS is currently sponsored and led by math teacher Jennifer Pisapia and gifted resource teacher Kara Gabriel.
NHS provides student members with a multitude of opportunities and benefits that can help them in the future. Pisapia explained, “While the National Honor Society provides members with benefits such as the ability to earn scholarships and build their leadership skills, quite a bit of what we do is focused on providing benefits to our community.” In regards to helping the community, she stated, “We have raised money for Special Olympics through the Polar Plunge Cool School Challenge, collected supplies for the homeless, made lunch and breakfast bags for the Union Mission, and, of course, provided our CAV Care daycare service for staff member’s children on staff days.”
Pisapia explained the NHS is based on four tenets: scholarship, service, leadership, and character. Scholarship encourages academic excellence and a love for learning, while service promotes community involvement and giving back. Leadership develops influence and leadership skills and uplifts student involvement, as character fosters honesty, integrity, and responsible citizenship.
Pisapia has been co-sponsoring the NHS here at Princess Anne since 2013. She has sponsored the club with Gabriel since 2020. She was a member of NHS herself during high school, as were many of the other teachers at PA.
Pisapia explained that to qualify for NHS, a student must be a rising junior or senior, have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher, and have taken or currently be enrolled in at least five upper-level courses (such as Algebra II/Trig, chemistry, honors English, etc.).
After qualifying for the NHS, you then have to apply for a spot. Pisapia said, “Once they are invited to complete the Candidate Package, they detail all of the community service activities, school clubs and sports, leadership activities, and awards they have completed since ninth grade.” That’s not all, though, she also stated, “They also complete an essay, obtain the recommendation of two teachers, and have their conduct records verified.”
“The Candidate Packages are reviewed by a five-member Faculty Council that does not include the sponsors and are scored on a rubric. All prospective candidates who meet the requirements are invited to join. We do not place a limit on how many new members we take each year,” Pisapia expressed concerning how the candidates are chosen to be selected into the NHS.
Sophomore Kevin Wu, who applied for NHS, talked about the process of applying. Talking about how difficult the process was, he said, “The process was not very difficult, it was just thinking about what you have done in your high school career.” He also said, “NHS can help me with certain skills that I [will] most likely use in the future.” He believes he has a good chance of getting accepted.
“The number one reason that students are not accepted for membership is a lack of community service, or only having one type of activity (not being well-rounded),” Pisapia explains regarding advice for future students who want to join the NHS. Students need to be well-rounded in everything, not just one type of activity to have a good chance of being selected.
“One thing that students don’t realize is that the NJHS membership does not automatically transfer to NHS membership. Students who are interested in NHS membership need to make sure that they are staying active in the school and community,” Pisapia explains when talking about NJHS (National Junior Honor Society). NJHS is a program you can join in middle school similar to NHS, but as Pisapia said does not automatically make you a member of NHS.
Some students may get a letter in the mail asking them to pay to join the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS). The NSHSS has no relation with the NHS, Pisapia warns that “NHS and NSHSS are not the same. If you get a letter in the mail asking you to pay to join an honor society, it is not the National Honor Society sponsored by Princess Anne High School.”
Pisapia heavily encourages students to join the NHS if they qualify for it, because of everything it can help with, especially in the realm of college applications, and everything students can give back in return as a part of the organization.
