By J1 Reporter Shelby Woodard

National Honor Society (NHS) gained 73 new members this month.  

NHS is a highly selective scholarship program that is open to juniors and seniors in high school. To be selected as a candidate for this society at Marian, one must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.8 over the course of their freshmen and sophomore years, as well as their junior and senior years if they are selected as inductees into the program. Students need to have held a leadership role at some point in their high school career, must have 15 hours of service dedicated to one organization outside of Marian, and be involved in at least two Marian activities to be considered for candidacy. 

Students who are members of this society at Marian are high achievers and are recognized as women who uphold the NHS four pillars of scholarship, leadership, character, and service. 

“The whole point of National Honor Society is to give those students who care about school that achievement piece, that scholarship piece, and, overall, make them active members of our school, ” said Ms. Amanda Losee, Marian counselor and moderator of NHS. Inductees are able to give back to the school through tutoring sessions organized by Mrs. Priscilla Trecek. With these sessions, inductees simply offer tutoring lessons to Marian students in need of help. 

“The student tutoring can be better than getting help from a teacher because students often feel more comfortable getting help from someone closer to their age,” NHS Maria Chapter President senior Riya Kumar said.

As president of the Maria Chapter of National Honor Society, Kumar works with inductees to explain their responsibilities as members of the program. She also organizes learning opportunities for the students involved. 

“I’m working on collaborating with leaders in the Omaha area who have shown excellence in the four pillars to inspire Marian girls to create change in their community,” Kumar said.

 On Nov. 17, Mary Sully de Luque Zoomed with members to speak about her leadership experience through her position at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University. Meetings like these are organized by Kumar and the other NHS officers to help members assume leadership roles in their own communities. 

The induction ceremony was held in the Mary Joy and Tal Anderson Performing Arts Center Kish Auditorium on Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.