The Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn chapter of the National Honor Society held its Induction Ceremony for new members on November 7 at the high school. The inductees are seniors Damian Dodge, Natalie McDaniel and Skyler Shaffer and juniors Natalie Daggett, Payton Diehm, Clara Funk, Jordan Lux, Isaac Schierholz, Eva Stammer, Evelyn Steffen, Lindsey Van Es and Lillian Van Loon.
To be eligible for membership in the NHS, students must achieve a minimum of a 3.5 GPA after four semesters of high school. Selection is also based on service, leadership and character. Of the more than 20 students eligible for selection, the 12 students listed above were inducted.

Honor Society member Abigail Douma noted that the HMS NHS was established in 1933 and said that “Membership in this organization is a very pretigious honor gained by a relatively small percentage of high school students nationwide. After membership is gained into a chapter, it is then expected that these students continue to uphold the standard of Scholarship, Service, Leadership and Character.”
The address was given by Ashley Tessum, NHS Advisor at HMS. She began by quoting Vince Lombardi, who said: The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. “To me, this means hard work is the key to success,” said Tessum. “Nothing in life worth having comes easy. You have to work for it, earn it.” She stated that the National Honor Society is more than just an honor roll and that the inductees are being recommended for their success, their hard work in and out of the classroom and being generally good people.
Tessum touched briefly on the four pillars of the NHS.
“Scholarship encourages students to challenge themselves academically,” she said. “Failure is not the opposite of success, it is part of it. The people who stand out, the ones who will be remembered are the ones who take the extra leap and risk failure in order to become stronger and more successful individuals.”
Tessum said that Service calls us to be active and involved in the community. “The high school years go fast,” she said. “Once they are gone, you can’t get them back. Don’t look back and have regrets. Take advantage of all the extra-curricular activities and service opportunities that are offered to you. You can learn many valuable lessons such as teamwork, cooperation, humility, patience, perseverance and resilience. These lessons will not be forgotten once you walk through those doors. They will be with you for the rest of your lives.” Tessum added that service is not about the recognition you receive, it’s about the impact you have on those around you and that service is about giving back to others, being part of something bigger than yourselves.

The HMS Advisor shared this quote by John C. Maxwell: A leader becomes great, not because of their power, but because of their ablity to empower others. She encouraged the Inductees to lead by example and to not let the fear of failure hold them back from being the leaders they know that they can be. Tessum shared the following words of wisdom, “Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader, they set out to make a difference. It’s not about the role, it’s about the goal. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a true leader.”
In regard to Character, Tessum urged being positive role models to those around us. Character has been defined as who are you when no one is looking. She noted that a person of good character always works hard to demonstrate positive qualities all day, every day.
“In life what happens to you isn’t nearly as important as what you do about what happens to you and how you react when it does happen,” said Tessum. “I challenge each and every one of you to become a better version of yourself – to be a lifelong learner, make a difference in someone’s life, do the right thing when no one is looking, and lead others to greatness.”
Tessum closed by saying that the honor society induction is a wonderful way for the school and community to recognize and celebrate the choices and sometimes sacrifices that the inductees have made and the countless hours of hard work they have put in to reach this success. “You should be very proud of yourselves,” she said.
NHS member Eliza Tewes pointed out that “the membership of the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn chapter of the National Honor Society is represented by the one lit candle, representing the Society’s torch – the symbol of eternal light and knowledge. The four unlighted candles represent Scholarship, Service, Leadership and Character.” Coming forward to review those qualities for the candidates and light the corressponding candle were NHS members Gracie Knobloch (Scholarship), Lainie Raveling (Service), Frankie Mohni (Leadership) and Kamryn Ebel (Character).

The Inductees were introduced by NHS member Megan Otto before reciting the Initiate Pledge: I pledge myself to uphold the high purpose of the National Honor Society to which I have been elected, striving in every way by work and deed to make its ideals the ideals of my school and my life.
Each of the initiates then received a certificate before Otto had a few closing words.