New National Honor Society members recite the NHS Pledge.

By Lisberma Peralta Aquino ‘20

Scholarship, service, leadership and character: the four intrinsic values for which the National Honor Society is nationally acclaimed. Founded in 1921 by Dr. Edward Rynearson, the principal of Fifth Avenue High School in Pittsburgh, the National Honor Society (abbreviated NHS) has since been led with the purpose of recognizing outstanding high school students whom, apart from exercising their time and energy towards having exceptional grades, are an active part of their community and serve as an exemplary role model to those around them.

While acknowledging them for their attainments in mentioned areas, the NHS also helps fortify its members with the vision that they can exceed their own expectations.

The premier organization holds an annual dinner to welcome its new members and, at the same time, express a bittersweet farewell to the seniors leaving it, all meanwhile celebrating the organization’s core values. On June 5, Passaic High School held its 2018 National Honor Society dinner. It took place at the luxurious country club, Valley Regency in Clifton, NJ, from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m., a time members spent with their family and friends, and in the presence of PHS’ NHS organizers, Mr. Graham and Ms. Amint, as well as teachers from the school who attended with the purpose of seeing students recognized for their hard work and dedication, along with Mr. Acevedo and Ms. Romero.

NHS President, Laisha Calalpa, was the first to claim the attention of the guests as she took the podium and welcomed everyone in the room. Then she, along with four senior members of the organization, started lighting the five candles held together by a candelabrum placed in front of the room. The middle and largest candle, explained Calalpa, represented the eternal light of knowledge. The other four, smaller candles flanking the larger one served as representation for scholarship, service, leadership, and character.

The evening’s hors d’oeuvre consisted of Penne Alla Vodka, a dish enjoyed by all guests alike, until the new members of the NHS were promptly called to the back of the room, where they were given a small candle and formed themselves into a line. When called into the room by their name, they would walk in, shake hands with Mr. Acevedo and Mr. Graham, sign the NHS’ book, and then stand in front of the room, where they all recited the NHS Pledge and became official members.

Guests were then offered a choice of salmon or chicken for the dinner entrée, and then seniors were called to the front of the room and given a white rose, symbolic of purity and truth, from which comes character. They would then give their rose to that person who supported them along their High School journey. Sprinkled ice cream soon followed for dessert.

Mr. Graham offered the night’s final speech. “It is a night full of both joy and sadness,” he said, “for pretty obvious reasons, for while we welcome new members, we have to say goodbye to the old ones.” He also gave three pieces of advice to the students listening, though mainly to the seniors who would soon be embraced by the ‘real world’:

• Step out of your comfort zone. If you don’t expose yourself to new experiences, new ideas, then however will you acquire knowledge?
• Never be the smartest person in the room. That who claims intelligence over all has nothing to learn, and NHS members should always strive to be enlightened.
• Enough never is, always try to be better.

Amidst this sequence of events, Ms. Romero, Mr. Acevedo and Calalpa gave encouraging and inspiring speeches full of esteem and regard for everyone in the room, mainly the NHS members, contributing to the night’s bittersweet mood. Though it concluded with tears from many, the National Honor Society dinner was a remarkable night; a night to remember.