On Friday, March 7, the National Honors Society (NHS) is set to host an induction ceremony in the ballroom to welcome all of its new 2026 members.

“The requirement [for students] is to have a 3.5 unweighted GPA to be invited,” NHS adviser Laura Penrod said. “Once invited, you apply and share your service and leadership information for the faculty council to review. The council comprises a variety of educators or education stakeholders at SWCTA who review each applicant based on NHS’s four pillars of scholarship, service, character, and leadership and give them a score out of a 100-point scale. The minimum score [to be accepted] is 75 [out of 100] with 20 points [being given] per faculty council member.”

The eligible students for the club were sent an invitation to apply in late January. 

“It’s not an exaggeration to say that I quite literally jumped up and down with happiness,” sophomore Christian Reyes said. “I remember talking to my teacher when a student walked in holding a stack of pretty blue letters and it only took me a second to piece it together. As I dug deeper, I realized that NHS isn’t a nerd convention, but rather a way to recognize leadership, dedication, and talent in and outside of school. It was these qualities that attracted me to apply and not let any opportunity go unexplored.”

Prior to the event, there will be a rehearsal meeting the day before to help students understand what will happen at the ceremony.

“During the opening ceremony, we have the officers go through their speeches on what each of the pillars signifies,” Penrod said. “The principal would deliver a speech from the admin and I would [also] deliver a speech more so to the parents so that they understand the process of NHS as well. And then, we induct. [Students will] come across the stage, sign the register, get their candles, and line up. Essentially, we light the candles and you’re inducted into NHS. After the ceremony, we just have light refreshments, like coffee and water, and overall, something nice to celebrate [the students] all being inducted.”

Attendees will be expected to wear formal all-black attire to the event.

“I’m not sure if other schools do this tradition or not, [but] for us, it’s more so about making it as unified as possible and showing that you’re both collective and an individual,” Penrod said. “It just makes it easy because most people have something black to wear. [So], rather than one person wearing a bright pink dress and somebody else wearing a yellow dress, keeping everyone in black shows unity and that we’re a group.”

Many students have expressed their excitement about being a part of the institution.

“My [first] impression is that the NHS would be a door to access many great opportunities that won’t just outlast our high school careers, but will go farther into our college careers,” sophomore Makoa Apao said. “One thing I looked forward to in the club is being able to network with other students who have similar desires [as me] and to go farther than just high school education. I also wanted to use the opportunity to gain leadership experience.”

Despite the event’s prestige, Penrod believes that the National Honors Society should be a fun and engaging experience for all members.

“I want students to feel like the community is at the heart of everything they do, and building communities in and out of the NHS is essential for the rest of their lives,” Penrod said. “The NHS teaches [students] that being a person who achieves academics is excellent, but being a leader and serving your community is always equally important as [compared to] academics and other external successes.”