NHS prepares for annual induction ceremony

NHS adviser Shirlee Shoben prepares papers to hand out for the induction ceremony. Photo by Allison Ng.

NHS adviser Shirlee Shoben prepares papers to hand out for the induction ceremony. Photo by Allison Ng.

Allison Ng, Contributor

In November, 38 juniors and 8 seniors received a letter in homeroom detailing their acceptance into Mayfield’s National Honor Society (NHS). On Dec. 5, 2014, these students will become official members of NHS by participating in the induction ceremony.

With this anticipated date quickly approaching, the NHS officers and adviser are in the process of making preparations so everything runs smoothly on Dec. 5.

Shirlee Shoben, the adviser of NHS, has been planning for the induction ceremony since August.  “When school begins, there’s a list of students that meet the 3.75 GPA criteria to qualify for induction. These students can be juniors or seniors. They will receive an eligibility letter during the second week of September,” she said.

Students have about a month to work on their applications after receiving this letter and are notified of their acceptance or rejection by the second week of November. If accepted, students and their families are invited to attend the induction ceremony.

The ceremony follows the same procedure every year.

NHS treasurer Jamie Vizelman said, “Each officer makes a speech about the importance of the qualities expected from each member. Then the inductees will be called up by [principal Jeffrey] Legan. After that, the teacher of the year is announced and they make a brief speech.”

The qualities that the officer speeches will focus on are character, service, scholarship, and leadership. These are the four areas students are evaluated on when being considered for acceptance.

As the new inductees are called on stage, each will receive the NHS pin and certificate, and the girls will receive a yellow rose, the official flower of NHS.

To make all of this happen, Shoben and the officers must make many arrangements.

Jeesoo Kim, the recording secretary of NHS, said, “The name tags of the new inductees are being created, and [the officers] are going to shortly rehearse the ceremony.”

Provisions have also been made by Shoben, who is responsible for obtaining all the materials for the ceremony and the breakfast preceding it.

“I have to order the food and the flowers,” she said. “On the morning of December 5, I’ll be here at 6 a.m. We need to set up the cafeteria, put out the food, and set out the candles.”

All of these preparations are an instrumental part of helping the ceremony function properly. However, the members themselves also play an important role in the success of the event.

“All members must act respectably and dress formally,” Vizelman said.

Collectively, the club officers and adviser are looking forward to the upcoming induction ceremony.

“We have a really large group of juniors being inducted, which is great. I’m excited to meet these motivated students and work with them in our events,” Kim said.

Shoben is also looking forward to seeing all the new members of NHS and is glad that the students have the opportunity to participate in the induction.

“The students are recognized in front of family and peers for all the hard work they have done. It makes me very happy to see how many people have achieved that goal and have met the requirements to achieve it,” she said.

The event will begin around 7:15 a.m. in the cafeteria, where breakfast will be served, followed by the formal induction ceremony in the auditorium.