On Thursday, March 30th, a new group of students were inducted into National Honor Society, or NHS. National Honor Society is a group of driven students who give back to the community in some way. In order to remain a member of NHS, you must maintain a certain GPA and have at least 25 hours of community service.

This year 32 students were inducted, including The Herald’s own Siobhan Brennan, Bella Courchesne, Katie Keane, Marty Keane, Kassidy Lawrence, and Emily McGuinness. Each inductee was asked to perform a random act of kindness prior to the ceremony. Some include: buying friends breakfast, writing postcards to children with illnesses, buying food for the homeless, and much more.

Nicole Horton, guidance counselor at Holyoke High School and advisor to National Honor Society spoke before recognizing the inductees. “This is my third year advising NHS,” Horton said. “I’m always in awe of what this group can do. The work these students do is not something we always recognize and I feel sorry about that.”

Horton went on to discuss the annual blood drive that NHS puts on. The members of National Honor Society volunteer with the blood drive in some form or another. They can donate blood, take down names, give snacks and water to students who donated, and they are even known to occasionally hold hands and comfort donors who are uneasy around needles. It is an event that Horton and the members are very proud of.

As the ceremony went on, various seniors who are a part of NHS went up to the microphone to speak. First, four seniors came up to introduce and “light the candle” for the four core values of NHS. Tamara Rivera spoke about character, Yarijel Melendez spoke on service, Jackie Curret spoke on scholarship, and Anaili Lopez spoke about leadership. Then Brianne Ramirez read a short story called “Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, And Nobody.” The story describes a scenario where somebody was supposed to do something but nobody did it, and it urges everyone to make a difference by simply doing something.

When the speakers finished, each inductee was presented with a certificate that officially made them a member of National Honor Society. Look out for the next blood drive NHS will be putting on within the next month!