If you are a junior, and you applied for membership to the National Honor Society, keep your eyes peeled! The selection process is under way, and the list will be up soon. But, do you know how NHS members get chosen? Well, I'll tell you, and even if you're not a junior, this information might be helpful to you. If you happen to be a sophomore and have aspirations to be a member of the coveted National Honor Society, then remember this!

First of all, to even be considered for membership, you must have a GPA of at least 3.5 by March of your junior year. If and when you achieve this, the NHS will send you and your parents a letter that tells you how to apply for membership and give you the date of a mandatory meeting.

Basically, having that weighted 3.5 GPA will open the door to becoming an honorary NHS member, but the rest is up to you. Selection is based on four categories: Character, Scholarship, Leadership, and Service. In layman's terms, they look at your personality, your grades, the leadership qualities you possess, and the community service you've done. The grades, of course, are taken care of by this point. The other categories are pretty much dependent on recommendations you get from teachers.

Each NHS hopeful is required to get six recommendations from adults, four from teachers and coaches at school, one from outside of school, and one from your community service. The adults must fill out a form attesting to your good character, your leadership abilities, and other general qualities you may possess. In addition to getting approval from the adults, you must also have a total of at least 10 community service hours to your name. This is a good reason to plan ahead in your sophomore year. If you haven't done any community service, there is still time to get started on that. Even if you are a junior and you have applied, but don't have enough community service hours, you still have the opportunity to join current NHS members in a service project or two to make you eligible.

The advisor of the National Honor Society is Mrs. Bazaz. After the junior candidates have completed their applications and resume of achievements, Mrs. Bazaz organizes a group of faculty volunteers to review and judge the applicants. The selection process is designed to be as impartial and fair as possible but with such high stakes involved, students are sometimes disappointed not to be selected.

Also, if you didn't meet the grade requirements in March of your junior year, you have a second chance come senior year. If you managed to improve your GPA up to a 3.5 in the third tri of your junior year, then you can try again when school starts in the fall. Your grades will be checked in August and you will be notified.

The National Honor Society meets every other Tuesday morning at 7:00 in room 101.

-Eric Carlson