The National Honors Society opened up its doors to new members on Thursday morning, celebrating their achievements with an initiation ceremony. Being the first of hopefully many other special in-person events, this year’s initiation was unlike any other.
Beginning the ceremony with remarks from the NHS officers, they sent out a great message for the members being initiated.
“A good part of you are current sophomores, juniors, and seniors…the fact that you are here today speaks volumes…and is no mistake,” stated The President of NHS, Michelle Mairena.
Unfortunately, parents were not allowed to attend because of social distancing requirements. With warm lights and friendly dynamics, the event hailed students with a homely welcome and addressed them as members and instigators of an upcoming chapter.
“Our chapter’s members are leaders in many organizations and assist in maintaining the high caliber of our school,” stated Mr. Yasset Fernandez, MLEC’s Principal.
“[The incoming members] are responsible leaders who will lead the following generations of national scholars,” he continued.
NHS hopes to serve as a standard of excellence for others to follow. The members initiated today truly demonstrated the qualities of great leadership, scholarship, academic achievement, and great character.
Even during the pandemic and trying times that many students of MLEC have faced, these students have shown resilience while maintaining good grades and getting involved in their communities.
The ceremony featured speeches from their officers and their sponsors. They described the qualities that each member of the honor society was expected to have before applying and most importantly the qualities that were present in each student that had attended the initiation.
In accordance with the pillar of scholarship in the society, Michelle outlined what it meant to be a scholar.
“Scholarship denotes a commitment to studying. Knowledge is one great element in life that leads to the highest success — with the help of our teachers of course,” stated Michelle.
Treasurer Jessica Quiros also resonated with her speech on character and how this was an important attribute that students could have.
“Character is within the individual…it distinguishes people from others. It is this character that guides one through life, character is achieved not received,” said Jessica.
“We must be what we appear to others–to be not to see,” she continued.
Throughout the rest of the initiation, students were lined up to receive their certificates. Ms. Cordova also made sure to call out the names of the members that were not present during the initiation to make sure that they were honored as well.
Maintaining social distance, this event allowed students to gather and commemorate their achievements together. The pandemic has halted many events and stumped many people; but, the newly initiated National Honor Society members continued to strive despite the travesties they faced along the way.
“These are trying times for all of us and you have shown the great that is present in all of you as the Jaguars of this school,” Katrina Cordova, the sponsor of MLEC’s NHS, emphasized in her address.
