National Honor Society
CRITERA FOR ADMISSION INTO THE NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY
The National Honor Society was founded in 1921 by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. According to this organization, a student must demonstrate outstanding performance in the four criteria of scholarship, leadership, character and service. Based on the scholarship criteria, students will be invited to a meeting where they will fill out an information form in October or November. Selection to the National Honor Society is a privilege, not a right. Students must provide the Faculty Council with the necessary information to support their candidacy for membership.
SCHOLARSHIP
The current academic requirement needed for consideration is a 92 cummulative average at the end of the sophomore year for a junior or at the end of the junior year for a senior. The students who have met the scholarship requirement are then eligible for consideration on the basis of service, leadership, and character.
Rating Scale For Leadership And Character
Character and leadership are rated by the faculty for each applicant on a scale of 0-4.
Excellent = 4
Good = 3
Fair = 2
Poor = 1
Non-existent = 0
A minimum of nine staff members must rate a student on both leadership and character.
The single highest and lowest ratings are dropped and the remaining ones are averaged for a final rating.
LEADERSHIP
Leadership is rated by the faculty for each applicant on a scale of 0-4, based on the criteria below. The single highest and lowest ratings are dropped and the remaining scores are averaged for a final rating.
The student who exercises leadership:
- Is resourceful in proposing new problems, applying principles, and making suggestions
- Demonstrates initiative in promoting school activities
- Exercises positive influence on peers in upholding school ideals
- Contributes ideas that improve the civic life of the school
- Is able to delegate responsibilities
- Exemplifies positive attitudes
- Inspires positive behavior in others
- Demonstrates academic initiative
- Successfully holds school offices or positions of responsibility; conducts business effectively and efficiently; demonstrates reliability and dependability
- Is a leader in the classroom, at work, and in other school or community activities
- Is thoroughly dependable in any responsibility accepted
- Is willing to uphold scholarship and maintain a loyal school attitude
- Student may be quiet and still possess positive leadership skills through the actions listed above
CHARACTER
A person of character demonstrates the following six qualities: respect, responsibility, trustworthiness, fairness, caring, and citizenship. Additionally, a student of character:
- Takes criticism willingly and accepts recommendations graciously
- Consistently exemplifies desirable qualities of behavior (cheerfulness, friendliness, poise, stability); actively helps rid the school of bad influences or environment
- Upholds principles of morality and ethics
- Cooperates by complying with all school regulations
- Demonstrates the highest standards of honesty and reliability
- Regularly shows courtesy, concern, and respect for others
- Observes instructions and rules, is punctual, and faithful both inside and outside the classroom
- Has powers of concentration, self-discipline, and sustained attention as shown by perseverance and application to studies
- Manifests truthfulness in acknowledging obedience to rules, avoids cheating in written work, and shows unwillingness to profit by the mistakes of others
SERVICE
The following provides some expectations regarding the service requirement:
- Students must have been actively involved in a combination of at least three school and community service groups or projects for more than 45 hours cumulatively for juniors and 60 hours for seniors.
- Service hours will be calculated based on activities performed since January of the previous year.
- School service may include clubs/organizations, music, drama, publications or sports but may not be limited to only one of these.
- The variety, consistency, value, and depth of service will be reviewed by the faculty council. They will be looking for a pattern of on-going involvement.
- School clubs and activities will be assigned a maximum of 5 hours depending on involvement and ratings from advisors. For example, a club that meets once or twice a month may be worth an hour, whereas a club that meets every week and participates in a number of events may be worth up to 5 hours. School service will be evaluated by advisors and faculty council members.
- Sports or drama productions will be worth a maximum of 15 hours (or 1/3 of the total service requirement) depending on level of involvement and advisor ratings.
- Service hours must be activities for which the student did not receive academic credit or monetary compensation and were not performed as a requirement for another honor society.
- Community service must be documented on letterhead by the supervisor of the organization involved and must include the student’s name, description of service completed, time frame, and a contact phone number.
The overall quality of the student’s service will be based on the following:
- Willingness to render service to school when called upon
- Shows courtesy by assisting visitors, teachers, advisors, students, and/or administrators
- Volunteers and provides dependable and well-organized assistance
- Willingness to sacrifice to offer assistance
METHOD OF EVALUATION
After completed forms are submitted for consideration, a faculty committee evaluates the information. Students can earn a total of 4 points for leadership and 4 points for character. They will also review the service hours, focusing on variety, depth, consistency, and value of the activity. The decisions of the faculty council are final and are not subject to appeal unless there is a technical or procedural mistake such as erroneous averaging of grades.
Contact Mr. Jim Russell at JRussell@ccsd.edu with any questions.
