National Honor Society (NHS) is known to be a prestigious club, following their four pillars that represent what they stand for: scholarship, character, leadership, and service. Every school year, the new and returning board members all work together to create an overall memorable chapter. However, for the club, coming up with the first ideas for the year have always been the hardest to conjure. This year, the Pembroke Pines Charter NHS board got to start their chapter on a new path; which led them to participate in a conference where multiple NHS board members came together to help improve everyone’s own individual chapter’s.
During the September officer meeting, the board members were all discussing ideas and plans for the first general meeting; when Ms. Palacio, the sponsor for NHS, began a new conversation that sparked the interest for all the board members. “It was actually our president,” Ms. Palacio gave the credit for pushing the board to participate, “She found that maybe we could all gain something from it.”
In the previous year, they did not go to the NHS conference. However, with the whole board ecstatic on participating, the club decided to sign up for the conference. Ms. Palacio excitedly mentions how, “[Great it was] that [the] board pushed for it,” and how “It was an unforgettable experience.”
On September 20th, the whole NHS board went to Pompano Beach High School where they all had their own reasons as to why they wanted to go on this field trip. The recording secretary, senior Ava Mendez, was excitedly to take part because she “wanted to go to be able to [get] closer with my fellow board members.” Also, senior president Hannah Flores, was excited to go for their first year: “I wanted to go to this conference to learn what it had to offer and come up with new ideas to bring back to our chapter,” she expresses.
Sitting beside each other on the bus, many of the board members had hopes as to what they were going to experience at the conference. Their senior vice president, Leah Miragliotta revealed that “[I was] expecting an educational presentation about how we can make the club better and learn new ideas for other schools,” while other members were just excited to hear what the conference had to say.
Essentially, the entire trip consisted of presentations that taught the NHS board members about things such as mental health and how to make meaningful events and ideas. Some conversations were even geared toward specific positions and their own obstacles, which further allowed those members to brainstorm with one another and come up with helpful solutions. “My favorite moment was when we were split up by officer position. I found it very insightful to learn about other perspectives,” their historian, senior Sophia Assis, describes.
Both the presentation and group activities were useful in their own ways. “From the group discussion, I learned specifically what to do for my role even better,” the treasurer, senior Isabella Cioffi explains.
She additionally says that “From the presentation slides, I learned for the overall club how to work together better.” Time flew by through the conference, yet so many memorable moments were made and concepts were taught and learned.
The conference also allowed schools crucial time to formulate new and grand ideas to use to make their society better. With many ideas shared in just a few hours, the opportunities are now endless for what the new chapter brings. Volunteer hour coordinator, junior Kaitlyn Oramas, plans to use “…the different ideas we discussed in the group and put in the effort to make these ideas come to life.”
Leaving the conference with a new mindset on National Honor Society, all the board members collectively have their heads spinning with ideas. Mendez is prepared to use the knowledge she learned and implement new “Activities to get both members and other students more involved.”
Along with new ideas that will help the monetary side of the NHS, Cioffi plans “To now use the fundraising ideas that other treasurers have come up with and bring into our own club.” This will not only benefit the club, but also increase the variety of fundraisers the club will host throughout the year.
The whole experience was a first, and it certainly won’t be the last time NHS participates in the conference. Through the laughs and educational parts, Ms. Palacio wants the trip to inspire her board: “NHS is not really talked about… I’m hoping that we take all those things and really make a difference.” With the new school year only a few paws deep, the National Honor Society is prepared to make this new chapter the greatest one yet.
