The Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn chapter of the National Honor Society held its Induction Ceremony for new members on November 1 at the high school. The 20 initiates are seniors Keith DeBoer and Emily Heneman and juniors Jaela Anliker, Joseph Billings, Anissa Bush, Ethan Diehm, Bryce Dodge, Kooper Ebel, Alyssa Gibbons, Morgan Grooters, Elise Haack, Travis Kamradt, Abigail Kunzman, Emily Mutombo, Juliana Pasillas, Emma Schmillen, Tanner Tesch, Tyson Tessum, Trenton Vollink and Bradley Zamudio.
To be eligible for membership in the NHS, students must hold a minimum of a 3.5 GPA through three semesters. Only 35 students were eligible for consideration.
The four qualities through which NHS members demonstrate excellence (scholarship, service, leadership and character) were described, in turn, by HMS NHS members Treasurer Lydia Harders, Secretary Anna Vander Veen, Vice President Brenton Thomas and Officer at Large Connor Dodd.
HMS NHS President Kaley Pearson presided over the initiation and introduced the featured speaker, Nicole Roder, a 1993 graduate of HMS. Nicole is the daughter of Norm and Myrna Lux of Hartley and is married to Kelly Roder, who farms with his family near Melvin. She has spent her adult life involved in education and leadership positions. She currently serves as the high school Principal at Rock Valley. The speaker admitted that the initiates didn’t know her but she hoped to connect with them in a way that would give them something they could take away from the evening.
One thing Nicole felt she had in common with the new inductees was their involvement at school. “I was involved in everything in school with my friends at HMS and that was my social life and it became who I was,” she said. “And many of you who are here and sitting in front of me are doing the same thing and that’s why you are being inducted into the National Honor Society tonight.”
Nicole shared that after losing her first husband she was never alone due to the support she received from many people in her life. Connecting that to the initiates she added, “You have surrounded yourselves with people and activities that define who you are today and because of this you now exemplify the four values of the National Honor Society.” To highlight those values, she quoted Muhammad Ali on scholarship, John Quincy Adams on leadership, Lee Iacocca on service and John Wooden on character.
In addition to the officers listed above, the HMS NHS membership includes Jasmine Lux, Lily Rons and Christian Voss.
The HMS NHS was established in 1933. The current Advisor is Mr. Jim Thomas.