On March 18, 2015, the National Honor Society Induction was held at New Haven High School. A total of 24 new members were inducted into the 2015-2016 National Honor Society. All of the students and teachers were dismissed to the gym at 9 a.m. to observe the induction ceremony.
| | The current members were told to be at school at 7:30 that morning to set up. There were two rows of chairs put up in front of the bleachers for the family members of those being inducted. To begin the ceremony, the current members walked out in a single file line to their chairs. Each of the members had a lit candle, which was blown out after everyone in the gym said the Pledge of Allegiance. Beth Schenck, the current President of NHS, took the podium and began by welcoming guests. After completing her welcome, Beth began introducing the four parts of NHS: scholarship, character, leadership, and service . Beth went more in depth in describing the meaning of scholarship. Then, Vice President Kayla Borcherding read a description of character; secretary Hannah Kruse spoke about leadership; and treasurer Katie Pierick informed the audience about the meaning of service in NHS. Following the explanation of the characteristics was the actual induction. Each current member was assigned an inductee. The current member then read biographical information about each inductee, including awards, extracurricular activities, and clubs. Several of the current members had younger siblings entering NHS. The members with siblings joining the group got the privilege of inducting their own family member into National Honor Society. Senior Mackenzy Vedder inducted her younger brother Zach Vedder and congratulated him with a hug instead of the usual hand shake. This years’ inductees included seniors Tenille Duessler, Molly Munsinger, Carlie Steinbeck, and Trista Kormeier and juniors Nathan Allgaier, Abby Perdue, and Jon Stone. The sophomores that were inducted were Emma Eichelberger, Kendal Frick, Kimberly Hoffman, Brady Kruse, Emily Lewis, Thomas Ley, LeeAnna Linton, Alison Long, Anna Miller, Taylor Oetter, Riley Otten, Julianna Parsons, Aaron Penning, Brooke Reed, Justin Shockely, Zachary Vedder, and Kate Weiser. Before the inductees were made official members of NHS, they had to repeat a pledge read by the president, Beth. After the inductees recited the pledge, Beth asked everyone to join her in welcoming them into NHS. Senior Trista Kormeier and junior Jon Stone, both inductees this year, agreed, “I was really nervous that I was going to mess up during the ceremony.” Jon Stone continued by stating what he was looking forward to while being part of NHS, “I am excited to help in the events that NHS sponsors.” Sophomore Kate Weiser has the same view as Jon with wanting to help the community. Kate explained, “I am looking forward to helping the community and school with a great group of people.” The guest speaker this year was Laura Miller. Katie Pierick introduced her by telling the audience a little bit about her background. Laura Miller, a NHHS graduate, writes fiction novels. When Laura arrived at the podium, she began by congratulating all of the new members. She then reviewed the meaning of the candles, giving her own opinion of what each of them meant, using past stories of her own. Laura was very passionate about a quote that she had found previously. She read, “Be somebody who makes everybody feel like somebody.” As Laura finished her speech, Beth took the podium once more. Beth thanked the current members that came to help set up in the morning and dismissed the new members and their families into the cafeteria for refreshments to celebrate. About 10 minutes after everyone was dismissed from the assembly, the fire-alarms sounded. Everyone evacuated the building while firemen and police officers arrived at the scene. The students and staff were standing outside for 20 minutes until they got on buses and went to the Baptist Church on Sunset St. where they waited for an hour and half. Announcements to keep everyone up-to-date were made throughout that time. The first announcement made by Mrs. Meyer stated that the cause of the fire-alarms was smoke from an air-handler coming out of the air vents. Announcements continued to be made. One in-particular made by high school principal Mr. Josh Hoener was that the middle school wing was almost completely gone. When Mr. Hoener admitted that he was only joking, the overall mood in the gym was lightened. After firemen had taken many air samples and were sure it was safe, the students were bused back and continued class. The 2015 NHS inductees had an induction that no one will forget. The ceremonies are always something to look forward to, but this year’s was truly unique. -by Kathy Jasper |
RSS Feed