On January 25, students, staff, and parents packed into the Distance Learning Center for the annual induction ceremony for the Edward J. Kaylor Chapter of the National Honor Society. To be eligible for the National Honor Society, students must complete the minimum requirement of twenty hours of community service and meet the minimum requirement for GPA. Students then entered into the application process, in which they had to complete a form of extracurricular activities and positions of leadership they held in the community. Students also had to get recommendations from three teachers and write a one-page essay on how they demonstrated the qualities of scholarship, leadership, character, and service.

The ceremony began with welcoming and congratulatory speeches by Co-Advisors Mrs. Pereira and Mrs. Farias. Superintendent Mr. Schoonover and Principal Mr. Lanczycki also congratulated the inductees. The president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer of the National Honor Society gave speeches on what the four qualities necessary to be accepted into the National Honor Society actually mean. William Medeiros, the president of the National Honor Society, gave a speech on scholarship and Sophia Valiente, the vice-president, gave a speech on leadership. Emily Canuel, the secretary of the National Honor Society, gave a speech on the importance of service and explained how service to her community has changed her life. Kathrine Esten, the treasurer, gave a speech on the importance of character. Guest speaker Holly McNamara congratulated the inductees on their achievement and explained her own journey to find her roots. She encouraged students to not limit themselves, to discover their calling, and to follow their dreams.

As one of the new inductees, I wrote my induction essay on how high school has personally impacted me. I wrote of how my core values have really had a big effect on my experience and involvement in the Big Buddy Program and Anti-Bullying Coalition at the high school. I also wrote about balancing good grades in high-level classes with my participation in after-school activities, like my varsity high school soccer team, club soccer team, the World Language Club, and being an editor for the school newspaper. I chose Mr. Pettey, Mr. Correia, and Ms. Copeland to fill out my teacher recommendation forms.  I chose Mr. Pettey because I had him as a teacher for a year and a half and I felt like he had helped me come out of my shell as a freshman to become one of the leaders of the school. He was one of the most influential teachers I had ever had. I chose Mr. Correia because he believes in the value of hard work, despite the outcome. He knows how hard I work and how I never give up, despite how difficult things may seem, and I have a lot of respect for him because of this. I chose Ms. Copeland because I have known her ever since my freshman year when I first started The Breeze. I feel like she has been able to watch and help me grow as a writer and a student throughout the past two and a half years. It is such an honor to be a part of the National Honor Society; I have been looking forward to it since my freshman year. The members of the National Honor Society are the people that I have always looked up to, and it is such a privilege to be able to stand side-by-side with them.

Hannah Hultman, chose Ms. Schmigle (her freshmen art teacher who inspired her love of art), Ms. Troutman (her sophomore photography teacher who sparked her interest in photography), and Ms. Ferris (her history teacher that she has had for two years) to fill out her teacher recommendation forms. Hannah said she chose Ms. Ferris because “she shows a lot of the qualities that the teachers should show: she’s really nice and cares about her students. I like when teachers do that because not all teachers care about their students’ well-beings.” Her favorite part of the ceremony was the officers’ speeches because “they were really well-written and entertaining at the same time.” Hannah says she is honored to be a part of the National Honor Society because it means that she demonstrates the four pillars. When asked about the most important of the four pillars (scholarship, leadership, character, and service), Hannah answered that the most important of the four was character. “You have to have the right attitude, the right work ethic,” says Hannah. “Anyone can show leadership or service because you’re required to.”

Olivia Lucianno, also a junior and new inductee of the National Honor Society, said that she wrote her application essay on her hospital volunteering experience. “You must have good character in volunteering where you don’t always have the most exciting jobs (organizing storage, putting biohazard stickers on buckets),” says Olivia. “You have to have patience and put forth your best effort no matter how trivial the job.” Olivia has been the first volunteer allowed to work in the lab at Southcoast Hospital. Olivia says that she included this in her essay because it is “a way I can help the community which still interests me and is relevant to my career choices.”  She chose Ms. Burgmyer, Mr. Pettey, and Ms. Goncalves to fill out her teacher recommendations because she says that she thinks she made the best impressions on those teachers and worked very hard in their classes.  The speeches were Olivia’s favorite part of the ceremony because “it was inspiring to hear other high-achieving students talk about such important qualities.” She also believes that the most important quality to have out of the four pillars is character because “it what drives an individual to work hard, lead others, help those in need, and generally become successful in life.”

Sydney Mis, a junior and one of the inductees into the National Honor Society, said that her application essay was simply an honest account of her life and how the four pillars of the National Honor Society applied to it. She said she has to “work for what I want. I buy a lot of the stuff I have and I have a lot of independence.” Sydney says that “sometimes I have to sacrifice some things for others, to help out around the house (like watching Lily [Sydney’s younger sister] and just contributing to my family).” She says that her parents have also taught her to be a leader and to help others. Sydney asked Mr. Laurence, Mr. Pettey, and Mr. Correia to fill out her teacher recommendations. She says that Mr. Laurence knows how hard she tries in class and how she always tries to help others. Sydney chose Mr. Pettey because she feels that he knows her pretty well, since he has had her for a year and a half and knows how she never gives up, even when she struggles. She chose Mr. Correia because he knows how hard she works. “He knows that despite test grades, it’s the effort that counts. I strongly believe in that….I just try my best and that’s the best I can do, and he understands that.” In contrast to Hannah and Olivia, Sydney’s favorite part of the ceremony was walking across the stage and actually receiving the award because it was like gaining recognition for all the work she has done over the past two and a half years. Sydney differs from Hannah and Olivia in that she believes leadership is the most important quality of the four pillars. She says that people can be very smart, give back to their community, and have good character, but it can only get you so far. However, the rest of the pillars–character, service, and scholarship–are needed to be a leader. “Sure,” says Sydney, “having the other three qualities is great, but having leadership is the best and has a much larger impact!” She explained how leadership can change the world for the better because a leader can take the other three pillars and enlarge them to an unbelievable scale. “They can spread the other three qualities, leading to a better world and a better place.”

Congratulations to the 2017 National Honor Society Inductees:

Julia Ahaesy, Adem Ahsan, Owen Amaral, Casey Arruda, James Arruda, Samuel Arruda, David Babb, Juliette Beaulieu, Emily Binette, Tayla Bissonnette, Samantha Borges, Kate Bosse, Catherine Botelho, Gemma Bruce, Abigail Cadorette, Matthew Cady, Alexa Calvano, Kyle Cardoso, Hannah Carneiro, Catherine Casey, Alexandria Celia, Tiffany Chasse, Lindsay Chubbuck, Brittany Comfrey, Kevin Conlon, Kevin Correa, Soleil Corvelo, Ferris Costa, Sophia Costa, Jeremy Dessert, Hunter Dusio, Michael Ferreira, Caroline Foley, Kerrie Frade, Chase Franco, Gina Gagliardi, Arianna Giasson, Laura Guirand, Christopher Hattub, Hannah Hultman, Daniel Johnson, Kara Kanuse, Samantha Kourtz, Abby Krause, Jillian Levesque, Olivia Lucianno, Matthew Macek, Cally Machado, Zachary Martin, Sydney Mis, Adam Morhy, Sarah Pettine, Ashley Pilling, Eddy Raad, Autumn Rayray, Micaela Rennick, Tony Rita, Eric Rogers, Colin Ryder, Connor Ryder, Josie Schmidt, Brianna Schultz, Lauren Soleimani, Sierra Teves, Leanne Vieira, Aliyah Welker, Sarah Wilson, Nicholas Wong, and Colby Yokell.