At the end of last year, Mrs. Heidi Orrico, sixth grade teacher, reinstated a Freedom chapter of the National Junior Honor Society, commonly known as NJHS. This is a small group of students that will first get invited into the program. If you have a grade point average of 3.75 or higher you get invited. However, if you get invited that does not mean you just get in. After you get invited, you have to fill out paperwork about the community service you do and a few other things about your character. After all that you’ve made it into the National Junior Honor Society. This group holds a meeting once a month or more. You should also be participating in community service projects throughout the school year.

This club/class started last year in May. The 8 graders did not get to participate in service projects or get to meet throughout the year. This means that the eighth grade students who got inducted last year are still curious about what they will be doing this year. The students in National Junior Honor Society have no idea what they are doing this year because they have not met before. Most kids are excited about community service projects. A few kids said that they wanted to do things like sports for charities or “anything but a backpack” day. However, most kids are excited about National Junior Honor Society, even if they do not know what it is or what they will be doing. They think that it is an honor and think it is a very big achievement. 

“I think it is an honor to be in NJHS,” said Nicholas Metzger, eighth grade student. Some students said that the middle school should model off of the high school’s National Honor Society. They thought that they would be good role models. Therefore, they wanted the middle school to be more like the high school. Other kids said that they may not want to model everything that the high school does but maybe some parts. Other kids are worried that the high school’s program may be too rigorous. However, they were still interested in doing some of what the high school does. National Junior Honor Society is a replication of National Honor Society. However, the middle school modified to fit the needs of a middle school student. 

This month National Junior Honor society met for the first time. The club discussed what service projects they will be doing this year. There were a lot of ideas. However, a few top contenders are something with the Polar Plunge. They are not sure what they would like to do with this, however, kids liked the idea. The thought of going on a heart walk was a big hit with a few students as well. With this idea, kids would go to a heart walk and participate in the walk or run a booth to raise money for a fundraiser. There was interest in going to visit a nursing home as well as visiting the Humane Society. They also talked about electing officers. Then the students nominated each other. Kids will then vote for each other on Monday, Nov. 21. At the second meeting, the students will talk about changing the bylaws. They plan to look at the amount of service hours that are required as well as some other things. Once they are done with everything they need to work on with the bylaws, kids will work on their service projects as a group and as individuals. They will also be working hard to keep up with their grades and the other responsibilities of being in National Junior Honor Society. Kids will also start talking about the speeches that they will have to present at the spring induction. 

If you are a seventh grader and you are interested in joining, some things you need to think about are your grades, behavior, and the service that you are doing. This is very important because if you do not have these things, you will not be able to get in. Doing things like keeping your grades up will make this possible. You also need to make sure that you are doing good things in school so that people know you are a good person. Working on your character is very important as well. For the eighth grade that is already in National Junior Honor Society, you need to keep up with these things as well. Keeping your grades up is very important if you do not then you will get kicked out. You have to stay out of trouble too. Doing service projects is a part of the requirements as well. So for all the kids that were wondering what the National Junior Honor Society would be doing now, you know.