NHS Expands in Size as Well as Responsibility

The 2014 inductees proudly pose before the induction started last spring. (A few inductees are not pictured as they had not arrived yet.)

Last spring, Coginchaug’s National Honor Society chapter inducted 28 new members. There are three officers this year; Natalie Charette is president, John McLaughlin is vice president, and Megan Quinley is secretary. The society is planning a variety of activities from bake sales to Ultimate Frisbee tournaments, as well as some new ones.

Each year, NHS divides into several subcommittees that focus on organizing certain activities that all members can then participate in.

Community Clean Up-

Chaired by Christian Alberico, the this committee focuses on bettering the community by volunteering to help people, mainly the elderly, clean up their yards. Ordinarily the committee focuses on Spring Clean Up, but this year Alberico and the committee have decided to do Fall Clean Up as well. NHS members will respond to requests by going and raking leaves and cleaning up yards. Ms. Jacques indicated that although there are no requests yet, they expect the calls to start coming in once all the leaves have fallen.

Drive-

Chaired by Marissa Berry, this committee is a new addition to the group of committees, and their focus is fundraising for a variety of causes. Berry and the committee have set up a bake sale at the Homecoming football game in order to raise money for the Quincy Family, a Middlefield family who recently lost their house and all of their belongings in a fire. The committee is also sponsoring the annual NHS food drive for the Amazing Grace Food Pantry. The food drive will last from November 3 to 14 and each advisory will have a collection box. The advisory that brings in the most non-perishable foods gets a pizza party, and each grade will be competing for spirit week points.

Community Outreach-

Chaired by Erin Smith, this committee has organized monthly trips to Twin Maples retirement home in Durham. NHS members will travel to Twin Maples after school one Friday per month and spend about an hour playing games and interacting with the residents. The first visit will be on Halloween, and everyone that goes is going to be in costume. This committee is hoping to expand on their Twin Maples visits and reach out to more of the community.

CRHS Community-

Chaired by Jill Kopcik, another new addition, this committee’s original focus was helping the school’s custodial staff. Since there were recent budget cuts regarding custodians, the committee offered their assistance and have been tasked with creating signs for the recycling bins. Kopcik and the committee are also expanding their focus to include school spirit. They are considering having a bonfire before homecoming, which is something Mr. Falcone mentioned at the beginning of the year. The details are yet to be worked out.

Veterans Fundraising-

Chaired by John McLaughlin, this committee was formed to specifically raise money for veterans to help fulfill the Connecticut Association of National Honor Societies’ (CANHS) fundraising goal. McLaughlin, who is also the CANHS president, and the committee are hoping to bring back the Ultimate Frisbee tournament as one of the fundraisers. They are also considering some sort of ice cream fundraiser.

Additional News:

This year, instead of having eighth graders come up to the high school and shadow students for a whole block, NHS members are going to give tours to students for about 45 minutes during first block. According to Ms. Jacques, they will show them the school and then take the students to classes that they feel are interesting and portray the essence of Coginchaug.

Another small committee has been tasked with creating a “user-friendly” explanation of MLA formatting and documentation.

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