The National Honor Society is a nationwide organization for high school students with selection based on their leadership, scholarship and character. It was founded in 1921 by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. 

“It represents high achieving students who succeed in academics and in community service,” Julia Case, a senior at Oakdale High School explains.

Students are required to hold a 3.5 weighted GPA or higher and have completed at least 8-16 hours of community service in order to be eligible for NHS. 

Dr. Schoder, the advisor of NHS at Oakdale High School, shares, “I think the goals of NHS are to continue fostering intellectual curiosity and academic success, but also add the component of service.”

In Oakdale High, 124 new students were inducted on December 4th. Their total is now over 200 students in the organization.

Case shares, “The inductions this year went as smoothly as last year.” She says that the program went as planned and was a success, even though there were more inductees this year.

As a part of the program, NHS hosts many events, such the blood drive, clean ups, the Veterans Day Event and also student-led leadership projects.

This month, NHS is hosting Dressember to raise awareness for human trafficking. Megan Chang, a senior at Oakdale High School, shares, “[NHS] believes wearing a dress is a conversation starter for human trafficking.”

“I think it’s important because it raises awareness about an issue that can go unseen if not addressed,” Chang expresses. She also believes that if the conversation is started, then it makes it easier to inform people of the signals and how to address them in a safe way.  

This year, NHS students are making more of an effort to inform the underclassmen/students not in NHS about Dressember. NHS students are going around to classrooms during SET and talking about Dressember with them. 

As much as NHS is public, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to choose the applicants who will be inducted. 

“I think there’s tremendous work done by the faculty council,” Schoder says. He explains the council is 5 faculty members who deliberate over the applications to decide who will be accepted. They dig into their community service less than the academics, because it is a given. It takes many hours for them to all decide who finally will be inducted. 

Overall, the National Honor Society is a group of students which others should look up to, and should be the model to other student’s character. The students and staff dedicate much time to the organization which allows it to grow.