The High School Student News Site of The American School in London

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The High School Student News Site of The American School in London

The Standard

    The role of NHS

    The+role+of+NHS

    The National Honor Society (NHS), in place for more than 15 years, officially recognizes those who exemplify the four pillars of academic rigor, character, service and leadership. An upperclassman student whose GPA is 3.6 or above is eligible to apply for membership, and 45 students from Grade 11 and 44 Students from Grade 12 became members this year.

    One of the purposes of the organization is to provide services for the community both inside and outside the school walls. Of these, the most well known services that the organization offers is the tutoring system. “The tutoring that the NHS offers is less intimidating by being tutored by an adult, and it’s free,” NHS Adviser Sana Shafqat said.

    Another relatively new service provided for students by the organization is the NHS blog on The Standard website, which offers study tips in the weeks leading up to midterm exams.

    Member Emma Abele (’16), who tutored students taking Advanced Placement (AP) Physics 1 said that it was rewarding to see her work pay off when the student that she was tutoring improved greatly over the year. “I think I really made an impact on their learning and I helped to prepare them better for the test.” As well as tutoring, the students have worked as guides for back-to-school night, assisted in the OAP tea and play, and worked as ushers for the winter concert and graduation.

    Finally, another well-known activity that is organized twice a year is an exam book sale. Students can buy AP and SAT preparation textbooks for a discounted price. This is another way the organization tries to help every student achieve academic excellence through their learning, President Brigitte Fink (’16) explained.

    However, even though the NHS aids in the running of events at school, there are some students who disagree with what the NHS does. Eden Schulkes (’16) said, “It’s sort of like creating a hierarchy between smarter students, and students who are not as strong academically.” Additionally, she described that there was pressure in Junior year surrounding the application for the incoming 11th graders. One thing that discouraged Schulkes from applying was the fact that not many people were aware of what the NHS was doing for the community, and she thought that there were other organizations that could make a bigger difference. “A big issue is that what they do should be more well known,” Schulkes said.

    Despite the concerns, Fink believes that it is providing a service, which brings together the NW8 community as well as the Lower, Middle and High Schools.

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