National Honor Society Inducts New Members
Induction into the National Honor Society is a huge honor at Menchville High School. The National Honor Society inducted new members Wednesday, April 21, in their second virtual induction ceremony since the start of COVID-19. Different from their previous virtual induction, however, the ceremony was able to be conducted both in-person and virtually, with hybrid students and guest speakers that felt comfortable with the situation performing their speeches live and in-person.
The ceremony began with a welcome from Chris Ware, the National Honor Society President, and a message of congratulations from Mr. Surry to all of the new inductees. The ceremony also featured a speech from the designated guest speaker for this year, Ms. Jennifer Wenska, an English teacher at Menchville. In her speech, Wenska reflected on the difficulties that many students faced due to having to adjust to a whole new way of learning, and declared that their persistence and continued effort demonstrated the characteristics highlighted in NHS. Wenska continued, using an analogy to the “Life” and “Smart” brands of bottled water.
“You’re being honored for that ‘becoming smart’ portion of your lives, but there are three other aspects of National Honor Society: service, leadership, and character. Those are life. Those are what you are every day. You can work to become a person of character, become a person who serves and leads, just like you can work to be smart, but those characteristics are something that are ingrained and make you the person that you are. You should all be very proud of the fact that you have at least started the journey in becoming smart, but from my perspective, you should be even prouder of the fact that you’ve started the journey of becoming a person of character, a person who serves, and a person who displays integrity…Your high school GPA is important, but that’s the smart water. The “Life” water is what sticks with you and is not forgotten by the community.”
National Honor Society Vice President Taylor Wadell read recognized each of the inductees. The following students were inducted into this year’s National Honor Society:
Sophie Adkins, Lea Amburgey, Avery Atkins, Helaina Ballou, Sydney Balus, Mikaela Banks, Danielle Beal, Hayden Boward, Lane Brock, Allie Cerny, Danielle Clark, Caroline Crain, Nora Correiro, Amaya Dean, Junior De La Rosa, Lindsey Egnot, Tyler Gorbett, Kalaya Gross, Marie Heilman, Won Heo, Mason Hill, Emma Latuch, Isabel Marstellar, Ragan Maynard, Payton Mays, Kathryn McElfresh, Cassidy Melzer, Alex Morello, Emily Odachowski, Abbey Powell, Skylar Rawls, Grace Rivera, Samuel Shepley, Madison Silcox, Gabe Stisser, Amanda Walls, Andrew Walls, Rileigh Weaver, Preston Wilkinson, Jacob Williams, Megan Wilson, Noah Wolfe, Reagan Zins
Following the reading of the inductee names, National Honor Society officers reviewed the four qualities held up by the society. Carlie Stewart discussed scholarship, Ainsley Abbitt spoke about the importance of service, Caitlyn Holmes addressed leadership, and Natalie Bretton reviewed character. Inductees then lit their candles, either from home or standing in front of the auditorium, and listened as Bretton explained the meaning and importance of the society’s emblem.
Finally, Katherine Scott, the society’s co-President, led each of the inductees in the National Honor Society membership pledge before instructing them to extinguish their candles.
The ceremony concluded with words of congratulations from Chris Ware, as well as thanks to the Menchville parents, ROTC program, and staff for their continued support and assistance.
