Fort Chapter of the National Honor Society welcomes 45 inductees

By Kim McDarison 

Forty-five inductees into the Fort Atkinson Chapter of the National Honor Society were honored Monday during the 63rd Annual Induction Ceremony held in the Fort Atkinson High School auditorium. 

With social distancing practices in place, about 100 members of the community attended the event. 

The hour-long ceremony included remarks made by several society members, including high school students Ellyn Scheuerell, who served as master of ceremonies, Sarah Holzli, Drew Evans, Mary Ellen Moran, and Gabrielle Morales. Fort Atkinson National Honor Society Chapter advisor Nate Daniels and keynote speaker, teacher Chick Westby, were also on hand to deliver comments. 

During the ceremony, inductees lit ceremonial candles, pledged to uphold the ideals of the society, and received certificates and pins which were presented to each student by Daniels and High School Principal Dan Halvorsen. 

Remarks

Within her opening remarks, Scheuerell welcomed students, faculty and guests to the ceremony. 

“We are here to give recognition to the students who have recently been elected to membership in this organization,” she said. 

Serving as keynote speaker, high school educator Chick Westby spoke about the importance of the components of membership in the National Honor Society. 

Westby congratulated the evening’s inductees, saying: “I bet you are wondering how you came to this spot. While I cannot say for your exact situation, I can be pretty sure it has to do with a few qualities that others saw in you, whether you know it or not.” 

Offering some history, Westby said the National Honor Society is 100 years old. The society is built on four pillars: leadership, scholarship, service and character. 

To be chosen as an inductee, he said: “Someone saw you serving others; someone saw you striving for good grades, someone saw you showing good citizenship and someone saw you exhibiting honorable character.” 

Westby told those in attendance that we live in unprecedented times, but not because of the pandemic. 

Addressing students, he said: “Think about this, in the early 1900s, when the National Honor Society was just starting, human knowledge was doubling like every 100 years. That’s a lot of knowledge. When I was your age in the 1970s, knowledge was doubling every 13 months or so. What is the rate now? Futurists believe that in your lifetime knowledge will double every 12 hours. That is unprecedented.”  

Other components of society are also growing exponentially, Westby said. He listed technology, population, increased use of resources, wealth and poverty. These increases are creating “unprecedented situations around our planet,” which, he said, is why the planet needs more students who show “leadership, scholarship, citizenship and character.”

Next, Fort Atkinson High School student and society member Sarah Holzli came to the podium and talked about the background and sponsorship of the society. 

Within her remarks, she said today, there are 6,000 chapters of the National Honor Society in the US. They grew from a need identified by educators to recognize students who were making “exceptional contributions to many areas of school life, including academics.” 

The National Honor Society is sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, she added. 

Student and society member Drew Evans next explained the qualifications for membership. The organization is open to students maintaining a 3.5 or higher grade point average. To be considered for membership, students must apply. Teachers then rate applicants using the following criteria: scholarship, character, leadership and service. New members are selected by a committee of teachers appointed by the principal. Membership is forfeited if a student falls below the required standards that provided the basis for their election, Evans said. 

Lighting of the candles

Next, four chapter members lit five candles, one each to symbolize the characteristic qualities of the honor society, and a fifth to represent a “balanced life.”  

Student Mary Ellen Moran lit a candle symbolizing “character,” saying: “Character is the force within each individual that distinguishes that person from others. It gives each person individuality.” Without character, she said, “no one can respect oneself, nor hope to attain the respect of others.” 

Student Gabrielle Morales lit a candle symbolizing “leadership,” saying: “Leadership should exert a wholesome influence on the school. In taking the initiative in class and school activities, the real leader strives to train and aid others to attain the same objective.” 

Student Drew Evans lit a candle symbolizing “service,” saying: “In the routine of the day’s work, many opportunities arise to help others. Willingness to work for the benefit of those in need without monetary compensation or without recognition, is the quality we seek in our membership.” 

Moran returned to light a candle symbolizing “scholarship,” saying: “Scholarship means a commitment to learning.” 

Student Cory Pfeifer lit a final candle symbolizing a balanced life, saying that the previous candles and that for which they stood represent the fundamental principals of the National Honor Society. 

“All of these principles, taken together, constitute the complete life,” he said. 

A pin and the emblem

Holzli again took the podium to share the meaning of the society’s pin and emblem. Holzli noted that the pin carries a replica of the society’s emblem. The emblem is a keystone with a flaming torch. The keystone represents strength and the flaming torch represents the light of knowledge, she said. The four pillars are also represented by the initials: C. S. L. S. 

Newly elected members light candles 

With Scheuerell again at the podium, inductees were invited to come on stage, choose a pillar and light a candle in fortification of that ideal. 

Students recognized during Monday’s ceremony included 13 students who were inducted last year but did not have an opportunity to participate in a ceremony. 

Next, Morales led students in the pledge by reciting three questions to which the inductees responded “I will.” 

The three questions were: 

• Do you solemnly swear to always consider the four qualifications of the Honor Society: Leadership, Scholarship, Character, and Service, and to uphold them wherever you may be? 

• Are you willing to work for the betterment of your school, your community, and your country through service and demonstration of such qualities as honesty, cheerfulness, poise, and stability? 

• Will you strive to exert a type of leadership that actively and wholesomely influences those whom you know or will meet later in life?

Pins and certificates

Inductees next received pins and certificates. 

The names of students inducted into the Fort Atkinson Chapter of the National Honor Society are found below.