North Hunterdon High School welcomed 45 more students into the legion of students in the National English Honor Society (NEHS) on December 16. These new members found themselves walking into unchartered territory for North Hunterdon, as the North Hunterdon chapter was just formed in October.
Inspired by Senior Kendall Cowie, a group of English teachers, led by Mrs. Erin Erwin, set out on creating its own chapter in the society. Cowie saw a lack of resources for students interested in English and decided to ask the English Department about it. Other subjects such as math, science, and art all have chapters of honor societies at North Hunterdon. However, there was no such chapter formed at North yet.
In order to be an official chapter, the advisors must comply with a set of regulations and bylaws specified from the national headquarters in DeKalb, IL. Each chapter must have a rigorous application process, must follow all bylaws set by the national chapter, and must create a plan for advancement in the future. This immense amount of work started in the spring of 2014 and was not completed until late fall.
Formed in 2004, NEHS is a relatively new honors society. It was formed by Sigma Tau Delta, the only national organization dedicated to recognizing high school students in the field of English in response to a lack of resources for English. Although new for English, honor societies are not a new concept. Since 1850, honor societies have been formed for high achieving students in the sciences, and as the years progressed, more and more subjects created honor societies of their own. English had been left out of this movement, until now.
Admission qualifications for the North Hunterdon English Honor Society are very rigorous. Students must have a minimum 3.25 GPA in their English classes. In addition, students are required to write an essay discussing a popular book that will vary by year. Entrance for the initial class was very competitive with a mixture of juniors and seniors being admitted into the society. In future years, admission will be limited to juniors. This year, both seniors and juniors were admitted because current seniors were not able to apply last year.
In the future, applications for the honors society will become available in the spring of a participants’ junior year, and the induction ceremony will occur around that time as well. The English Honor Society plans to admit between 20 and 25 students in the future years to keep the group at a comfortable size.
That said, the NEHS is still looking for the direction in which to go. Chapters are expected to participate in a variety of activities including volunteer programs, fundraisers, group activities, and field trips. Other chapters have worked on group publications such as comic books, short stories, and even literary guides. Some chapters have gone on field trips to newspaper offices, printing presses, and book signings. As NEHS strives to promote literature and publication education, members will be exploring all aspects of English.
The North Hunterdon chapter has many different paths that it can take, and the options are limitless. Members will soon formulate and vote on a plan for the rest of the year. Currently, they are considering adding a student help section to the Reading and Writing Lab after school. Students would be able to go to the lab to ask current society members for writing advice.