National Honor Society is an elite organization established to recognize the achievements of outstanding high school students. National Honor Society acceptees pride themselves on their service, character, leadership, and scholarship. Getting accepted is an amazing achievement; however, the application process is one that can become extremely stressful.

Around mid-January members of the junior and senior classes who meet the 3.65 GPA criteria, after the fall semester of the current school year, will receive a letter from advisor, Tera Digmann, inviting them to apply to the society. This letter does not mean that any one person is guaranteed entry, nor is it required of those who receive the letter to apply. This letter begins the application process and you may be asking, “How do I do that?”

First, if you have a 3.65 GPA and are interested in applying, you want to start NOW. Get out a piece of paper or open a Google Doc and start writing down all of the community service hours you have obtained from sophomore year to present. From there, write down all of the awards and honors you have received. This can include awards from Honors Night, athletic and academic letters, etc. Kay Lee McDonald says, “Start writing down volunteer hours now! Don’t procrastinate and don’t forget the little things!”

The next tip is that you want to start almost immediately after you receive the notice. “Start as soon as you get the information and spread it out, so you aren’t trying to do the whole thing in a day. It is more time consuming than you think,” says current member, Grace Tolstedt.

The application requires you to provide your leadership positions, community service hours, two letters of recommendation, a typed resume, and a cover letter. A pro tip from current member, Josie Otto, states, “Keep your resume from your careers class and add onto it as you get more, making the process a little less stressful.”

As far as letters of recommendation are concerned, it is required to have one letter from a faculty member and one from someone with no affiliation with the school. Faculty recommendations can come from teachers, administrators, coaches, or any other person under employment of Alliance Public Schools. The second letter cannot come from a family member, including aunts, uncles, parents, etc., but they can come from a boss, a friend’s parent, or anybody who knows the applicant on a more personal level, but can have no affiliation with the school. Nathan Lauder made sure to emphasize how important it was to ask for these letters early!

One more requirement is to have signatures for any community service hours. This is the way to prove the hours that are submitted are accurate. You will want to do get your signatures AFTER you have proofread your application o make sure that you have all of your hours recorded. The application is reviewed by a council of five teachers at Alliance High.

National Honor Society Secretary, Ashlee Walleson, shared her best advice stating, “Don’t be afraid to ask questions or for help with the application. Your success is the main goal!”

The National Honor Society application process may seem like a scary situation, especially if the applicant has no idea what they are doing. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and remember that there is no such thing as too much. Mrs. Digmann, or any current members are available to help you and are more than willing to give you advice! This is the applicant’s chance to show off all of their accomplishments. Don’t be afraid to show off what you have done or accomplished. This is the opportunity to brag! The application process will begin January 15, 2018 and the induction of new members will be held on March 26, 2018!