National Honor Society Advisor
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society was founded in 1921. Our Johnstown chapter was chartered in 1936. Today there are over 20,000 high school chapters throughout the United States. The objectives of National Honor Society are to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to stimulate a desire to render service, to promote worthy leadership, and to encourage the development of good character.
NHS Membership
NHS is more than just an honor roll or a grades society. The Honor Society chapter establishes rules for membership that are based upon a student's outstanding performance in the areas of scholarship, service, leadership, and character. These criteria for selection form the foundation upon which the organization and its activities are built. Membership at Johnstown-Monroe High School is open to Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors.
Scholarship: Students who have a cumulative grade point average of a 3.800 or higher meet the scholarship requirement for membership. These students are then eligible for consideration on the basis of service, leadership, and character
Scholarship
Service: This quality is defined through the voluntary contributions made by a student to the school or community. Service is completed without compensation and with a positive, courteous, and enthusiastic spirit.
Leadership: Student leaders are those individuals who are resourceful, good problem solvers, promoters of school activities, idea-contributors, dependable, and persons who exemplify positive attitudes about life. Leadership experiences can be drawn from school or community activities while working with or for others.
Character: The student of good character upholds principles of morality and ethics, is cooperative, demonstrates high standards of honesty and reliability, shows courtesy, concern, and respect for others, and generally maintains a good and clean lifestyle.
Specific standards for these criteria may vary from one school to the next. Such variations are acceptable as long as they do not fall below the national standards set by the National Council of the NHS. All chapters are required to write down the criteria and procedures used in their local selection processes. The Honor Society adviser maintains copies of the local procedures and has them available upon request. Any student in grades 10, 11, & 12 in a school with both an official charter of the National Honor Society and an affiliation with the national office is eligible for consideration for membership in NHS. Once a school has established a chapter, all membership selection for individual students is handled through the local school chapter.
The selection process demands much time and effort from the students, staff, and the NHS faculty council. Because the tenets of the national organization are very specific, the standards for the selection process must remain very high. As with any highly selective process (e.g., job searches, scholarships, admission to very competitive colleges), there is no guarantee that after all the information has been reviewed that a certain student will meet the high standards for becoming a member. Fair, nondiscriminatory selection criterion as outlined in the National Honor Society Handbook is the standard by which selections are made.