National Honor Society at St. Luke’s

The National Honor Society is an academic organization that recognizes students that exhibit the following pillars: Leadership, Service, Scholarship, and Character. To become a member of the NHS, a student must maintain a 90 average on a 100-point scale. Each student’s application goes to the NHS Faculty Committee for review and approval. Membership is both an honor and a responsibility. The selected students are expected to continue demonstrating the four pillars.

In April of their junior year, students with qualifying grades receive an invitation to apply for membership. Membership is a privilege, not a right, according to the national organization. Although students may fulfill the scholastic component of NHS membership, they must show that they can fulfill the leadership, character, and service components.

Becoming a member of The National Honor Society is beneficial when applying to colleges because it is one of the very few high school organizations that is universally recognized by college admissions officers and scholarship committees as being challenging and elite. Many of these awards and admissions are given to NHS members over non-NHS members with all other qualifications being equal.

St. Luke’s NHS President for the 2022-2023 school year, Andrew Burchett, is planning on attending Emory University and double majoring in political science and economics before attending law school. Burchett is involved in many extracurricular activities, including cross country, track and field, lifting, reading, acting, speech and debate, history, cooking, and (arguably most importantly) being the Chief Meteorologist of St. Luke’s.

Burchett says, “Being a member of the National Honor Society allows the opportunity to set yourself apart from other students. It lets others know that you value academics, integrity, and the community. Colleges, jobs, and other organizations notice this and will only look at this positively.”

The St. Luke’s Chapter of the NHS is sponsored by Mrs. Wallace. The goals for the 2022-2023 members according to Burchett are, “set an example of how much St. Luke’s best and brightest can accomplish at school and within the community as a whole.”

If you are wanting to apply to become a member of St. Luke’s chapter of the NHS in the future, the current members offer advice. Secretary Alex Portella, says, “Make sure you stay on top of all your schoolwork! Staying organized is key!” Burchett’s advice to future NHS candidates, “being a member of NHS means you’ve set yourself apart in school, extracurriculars, and the community as a whole. That being said, it really just takes doing the little things. Do your homework, be honest, try new things and clubs, and you’ll set yourself up for success and a chance to be part of NHS.”

Burchett is still busy fulfilling his role before graduation and says, “ I feel very honored to be president of such a diversely talented group and hope that the subsequent chapters can look to our impact on the school and our ability to use our talents and feel challenged to achieve even more.”

Induction for St. Luke’s National Honor Society 2023-2024 will take place on February 28, 2023.