TEWKSBURY- On March 12th, Tewksbury Memorial High School hosted their annual National Honor Society (NHS) induction for TMHS juniors and seniors. This ceremony is to shine a light on the bright and hardworking students that have done so much for the community. In order to be inducted into NHS, there are a few requirements that you must need as a student. The student must have and maintain a grade point average (GPA) of a 3.8 or higher, and complete at least 10 hours of community service their freshman and sophomore year, 15 hours their junior year, and 15 their senior year totaling out to 50 hours of community service by the end of their senior year.

The ceremony started off with a singing of the national anthem, which was sung beautifully by the talented senior Jenna Wentworth, which was followed by the pledge of allegiance led by senior Matthew Pelletier. Throughout the night, senior NHS members each took their turns talking about the four pillars of NHS and what they mean to them. The four pillars of NHS are scholarship, character, service, and leadership. Samantha Regan talked about the pillar of character. I asked her what it was like being able to talk about the character pillar at the induction. Regan stated that “It was kind of nerve-racking but being surrounded by my friends really helped a lot.” Matthew Fronduto spoke about the leadership pillar. When speaking to him about his speech on leadership Fronduto said, “I was honored to talk about something I’m so passionate about to such incredible students.” Fronduto also mentioned that his favorite part of the night was “watching the juniors get their roses because I know they will be the schools next leaders.”

NHS currently holds 81 senior members. Each of which was recognized for their hard work and dedication to the club by being called on stage to accept a red rose and given the opportunity to sign a book that’s purpose is to cement the outgoing seniors’ legacies in their chapter of NHS. The junior induction class held 64 students and they were recognized for their hard work by also being called on stage and transferring one yellow rose from one vase to another. This tradition symbolizes the inductees’ transition into NHS. They were also given a certificate for being inducted and a gold pin, which were handed out by Principle Vogel and the advisor of NHS Ms. Puma. The presentation of the roses was also done by senior members Isabelle Frost and Elizabeth Ezekiel.

The master of ceremonies for the night was none other than NHS’s’ own co-presidents, Grace Morris and Colton Rusch. They each did a wonderful job introducing the speakers of the night as well as the names of all the current members as well as the inductees. I got a chance to speak with one of the NHS co-presidents, Colton Rusch. I asked him what it was like being the master of ceremonies for the night. “ I had a great experience MCing with Grace. We were able to very fluidly manage the ceremony due to the hard work she put in structuring the script and the effort we both put forth to revise our parts and succinctly get our messages across.” Rusch said. “I thought it went very well! We were all a bit worried about it initially due to all of the moving parts involved with the ceremony but it was as close to flawless as we could hope for.” When asking Rusch if he has a favorite or most memorable moment he said, “ I really appreciated Representative Dave Robertson and Representative Tram Nyguen dedicating their time to make an appearance for us and offering valuable words of advice for the inductees that evening.”

There were four new senior members that were inducted into NHS for 2018-2019. One of these senior was none other than Casey Ryan. I asked him what it was like being inducted into NHS. “It was very thrilling,” Ryan said. “I really enjoyed the whole atmosphere of it. I felt like I was really part of something bigger and I’m excited to help out the community.” All and all, the night ended with proud students and families and refreshments as well as delicious desserts in the cafeteria.