At the end of each school year, the Broward County Honor Society (BCHS) invites all National Honor Societies (NHS) to an award ceremony. Here, the board applied for awards in hopes of receiving one for their events that they hosted over the 2024-2025 year.
This year, the Pembroke Pines Charter High School (PPCHS) NHS attended the conference and brought home awards for their school to commemorate.
NHS’ president, senior Hannah Flores, mentioned how it had been years since PPCHS attended this program: “I think it’s a great way for our chapter to be recognized for all the hard work our members put into it!”
Working alongside the club’s sponsor, Jillian Palacio, NHS was able to make this hope into reality. Flores had the board members write reports using their SMART goals for the different categories; all symbolizing certain aspects of the chapter such as community service, fundraising, and character. Each of the papers consisted of different activities each NHS board member had led throughout the year.
Even after years of not attending this program, PPCHS’ NHS was able to bring home three awards: second place in Community Service, third place in Fundraising, and the Broward Gold Chapter of Distinction. Flores mentions that since their chapter hasn’t participated in years, “taking home awards was extremely special.”
All of the work from the entire board was condensed into these awards, and still so much was accomplished outside of them. Having more service projects and events, Flores expressed that her main motivation to work diligently throughout the year was the board itself, “being able to work with them… is what motivates me.”
NHS’ Parliamentarian, junior Eri Fatimilehim, won third place for her project paper in the Fundraising category. Her paper was talking about the fundraising event NHS had of ‘Guess how many hearts are in the jar,’ and how that helped this year’s chapter.
Fatimilehim’s paper consisted of “a detailed, in depth written report about the activity… we also had to gather photos from the event.” To make her work the best it could be, she looked through past winners and went to her president for help when writing the paper.
This work was special to her because it was one of the activities that she truly enjoyed doing. “I knew that I could write a lot about this event. This event was open to the whole school… which was something everyone loved about it,” Fatimilehim describes.
With all three awards NHS was able to bring back to the jaguar home, the whole board is proud to represent their school in such a prestigious society. For the seniors, this trip allowed them to celebrate their unique chapter and soon pass it down to their juniors, as Flores leaves off: “Make the chapter [your] own and enjoy the process, especially since the year goes by so fast!”
