With holiday preparations in full swing amongst NASH students, the lesser-known honor societies are active with plenty of projects underway. These groups revolve around service related to their respective subjects that benefit the school or community, and this month many are taking part in holiday-related activities.
Each month, the English Honor Society offers a variety of activities centered around writing and creativity. For them, Winter Wonderland decorations include snowflakes made of book pages, with a theme of “cozy up with a good book.” Additionally, for club credit members can write a poem about anything winter-themed inside of a snow globe template or write a book review.
“The month of December has really good opportunities for students to earn credits because December offers a lot of chances for NEHS members to help the school and community, like helping with Winter Wonderland,” said Kailyn Herm, an officer of the club.
Art Honor Society is also engaged with a variety of activities this month.
“Each month, the Art Honor Society paints the auditorium vestibule windows to celebrate the holidays and national heritage/cultural celebrations happening that month,” said sponsor Ms. Swan, as the windows currently sport colorful and creative winter paintings done by members.
Other activities include an art swap similar to a Secret Santa, in which members create artwork for an art exchange, decorating coffee cup sleeves for the local business Café Conmigo, creating zines, decorating for Winter Wonderland, and submitting original artwork to the regional Scholastic Art competition. One of two other notable activities is the Memory Project, where members participate in this nonprofit organization’s event to create a portrait for a child living in instability and in need. This year the organization is supporting children in Malawi. The honor society also offers an activity called Traveling Sketchbook, as members can sign up to create an artwork within a collaborative NAHS sketchbook as a time capsule.
The Music Honor Society, also known as Tri-M, is very active this month helping out at winter concerts at many schools across the district. At orchestra concerts, students who currently take orchestra can volunteer to help tune instruments and perform with students. At band and chorus concerts, students who take band, chorus, or orchestra help hand out programs and direct younger students.
French Honor Society partakes in a delicious tradition every year: members and French students have the opportunity to make a traditional Bûche De Noël (which translates to Yule Log) cake, and then at the meeting, members get to sample the variety of cakes. Students who take any level of French class receive extra credit if they make the cake at home and if it resembles the traditional cake. Additionally, for Winter Wonderland, the hall will be decorated with drawings of characters from Petit Nicolas, a popular French children’s novel which follows the life of elementary-age character Nicolas.
Spanish Honor Society is also active in December.
“This month, the Spanish National Honor Society, in conjunction with the NASH Spanish Club, will be tutoring many of the ESL elementary students at McKnight Elementary. On December 18th, they will also be teaching all Spanish Club students how to prepare a traditional Hispanic holiday meal, which will then be shared by everyone in attendance,” said Señor Di Bacco, sponsor of the group.
The Science National Honor Society is decorating with a theme of “Christmas Chemistry.”
“We took a vote based on three themes and Christmas Chemistry won,” said Vanessa Edfors, an officer of the club.
Math Honor Society is also decorating.
“We’re decorating for Winter Wonderland with a lot of snowflakes. Most honor societies signed up to decorate,” said Huma Iren, a senior member.
Whether the honor societies are just decorating for the holidays or also taking part in other activities, December is without a doubt a fantastic month to participate in these active groups.
