Written by Leo Woods |
Photos by Leo Woods|

On Monday, January 7th, 29 Morgan students were inducted into the National Honor Society. NHS, since it’s founding in 1921, inducts students based on excellence in academics, leadership, character, and community service. NHS is an international program with over one million students making up its membership.

Spanish teacher Susan Natale is the newly appointed advisor to Morgan’s chapter of NHS. Mrs. Natale said that her time as the advisor has been “terrific so far.” She was approached by a group of NHS students who recommended she take on the position after Mathematics teacher Stephanie Davis retired from her role as an advisor after many years.

The process of choosing students begins by notifying juniors and seniors not already inducted who have a GPA of 3.5 on a 4 point scale. They are given the opportunity to apply, a process that many students have stated is stressful. Half of the application is submitting the hours that a student has spent on extracurricular activities and community service. The other half is an essay where students must write why they believe they should be chosen for NHS. Junior Jenna Kareliussen found that writing the essay “was very difficult. I struggle with talking about myself and my achievements, so it was hard to write all about how “great” I am and why I should be accepted.”

All essays that are submitted are reviewed by a panel of teachers and are graded according to a standardized rubric, so as to not show favoritism to certain students. Once the essays are reviewed, the chosen students are emailed about being accepted and are invited to the induction ceremony.

Following a dinner prepared by the Morgan kitchen staff, the ceremony was introduced by Principal Keri Hagness, and each of the pillars of NHS was explained by seniors who were inducted last year. Students were called up one by one to receive their NHS certificate and pin, pinned on them by their parent. They lit a candle from the center of the table and recited an oath once all the students had been announced.

I pledge to uphold the high purpose of the National Honor Society to which I have been selected; I will be true to the principles for which it stands; I will be loyal to my school, and will maintain and encourage high standards of scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

NHS sponsors many events around Clinton throughout the school year, most notably Morgan’s biannual blood drive with the American Red Cross. NHS strives to give back to the community, which Junior Alyse Olcott is looking forward to. She said,  “I am most excited for the opportunity to give back that NHS will provide me with. I enjoy giving back to the community, and NHS is one of the programs in school that strives to do a lot of that.”

This year, the following students were inducted into the National Honor Society:
Juniors Alessandra Arnoldi, Carlo Arnoldi, Sarah Auletta, Emma Blair, Nicholas Bussiere, Galvin Carlisle, Nicolas Colebank, Logan Cummings, Andrew Daly, Emma Farrell, Sydney Fratamico, Kyle Gagliardi, Rachel Gelven, Allison Goguen, Alex Kadlof, Jenna Kareliussen, Maura Kelly, Loulia Khalifeh, Sarah Kuever, Delaney Mastriano, Natalie Novarro, Annalyse Olcott, Emma Orr, Rachel Schmardel, Olivia Swan, Kaitlyn Tunney, Mya Yetso, and Seniors Grace Roman and Matthew Zoner.

Below are pictures of the induction ceremony.

Gallery • 46 Photos

Junior Ally Goguen and her family