NEHS chapters play a vital role in strengthening their schools and communities through service, leadership, and a shared commitment to literacy. At Wallkill Valley Regional High School, NJ, this aim is put into practice by the Randy Pausch Chapter. Under the guidance of Chapter Advisor Jennifer Grabowski, students have embraced opportunities to make a difference both inside and outside the classroom. Their work serves as a powerful example for other NEHS chapters seeking to expand their impact within their own communities.
Making a Difference One Service Project at a Time
The Wallkill Valley Regional High School’s Randy Pausch Chapter of the National English Honor Society has been actively working on several service projects this year to serve the greater Wallkill Valley community.
The student members of the honor society have tutored students struggling with their English classes; created a give-a-book, take-a-book student library; organized holiday writing contests and door decorating contests for the students at their school; and have written letters to the veterans for a Veterans Day dinner at Sussex County Community College and for teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week.
These students have also served as pen pals to the 8th grade students in the sending districts, writing letters that highlighted all the great academic programs, sports, and clubs Wallkill has to offer, and encouraging them to attend Wallkill. In an effort to get the sending district 5th grade students interested in the high school, NEHS also hosted a district-wide spelling bee where the students competed for spelling awards and major bragging rights.
In addition to these service projects, the NEHS students held a book sale outside the school’s cafeteria as a fundraising endeavor and organized a station at the table to write letters to the children at St. Jude’s Hospital for the holiday season. They too participated in Wreaths Across America in December. The NEHS members also collected school supplies for future backpacks that will be created in September for students in need at Family Promise of Sussex County.
Most recently, the organization, supported by Chapter Advisor Jennifer Grabowski, has implemented a children’s book project for the 2nd graders at Ogdensburg Elementary School, where student members interviewed the students about their favorite animal and incorporated them in the book they wrote. They then read the book to the school children as part of the Read across America service project. The National English Honor Society students visited the second grade where they presented the youngsters with a copy of the book they wrote in conjunction with the second-grade students about their day at the zoo. After reading the book, students participated in an art project where they made masks representing the various animals at the zoo. NEHS students also visited the preschool and 3rd grade classes to read the books Be a Maker by Katey Howes and What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada and lead the students in art project activities centering around Read Across America. The preschoolers made crowns, and the third graders made their own bookmarks.
Senior and NEHS Vice President, Anthony Peluso, stated, “I’d say it’s really nice how the society isn’t just in Wallkill itself but in the surrounding community and that it’s really assuring when the younger students appreciate what we do.” Overall, it was a fun-filled day had by all that promoted a love of reading and art. Currently, the NEHS members are in the process of creating a story that incorporates the Wallkill Valley preschool students participating in making chicken soup with their Pre-K teacher, Anmarie DeGiovanni. Their mission is to write the book, have the digital art class illustrate it, and have it bound and published by the school to present it to the preschool kids as a graduation gift.
Recently, NEHS has hosted a StoryFile presentation in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ. During this event, students had the chance to “interview” two Holocaust survivors, Mark Schonwetter and Hanna Wechsler, through an AI-based simulation. There was also a “Survivors Speak” portion where Hanna Wechsler shared her firsthand experiences from the Holocaust.
Finally, NEHS members will be honoring those students who achieved a 700-800 on the English portion of the SAT in a “SAT Hall of Fame” display in the English department hallway to recognize the hard work of their peers and to encourage others to follow suit.
Chapter Advisor Ms. Grabowski commented, “Every day my students remind me of the importance of giving back to the community—it is so wonderful to see our youth embrace each service project as their way of sharing their gifts with those in need, they are truly an inspiration to the Wallkill Valley community, and I couldn’t ask for more.”
Students’ service to the organization has not only helped them develop strong leadership skills but has enabled them to strive for academic excellence and given them an opportunity to utilize their literary expertise for the benefit of others.
Jennifer Grabowski is a 25 year veteran teacher at Wallkill Valley Regional High School, and has been advising the Randy Pausch Chapter of the National English Honor Society for the past four years. Every year she is amazed by the accomplishments her students have achieved through their commitment, hard work, and service to the organization. She hopes they continue to share what they have learned in their leadership roles by spreading their love of literature and altruism to the community in their college and professional pursuits. Ms. Grabowski’s wish is that her students have learned to give back to their community what they have been taught in her classroom and through her Advisorship of NEHS. She notes, “A teacher’s greatest reward is that her students become inspired to take what they have learned in their academic careers and go out and make the world a better place.”
National English Honor Society
The National English Honor Society (NEHS), founded and sponsored by Sigma Tau Delta, is the only international organization exclusively for secondary students and faculty who, in the field of English, merit special note for past and current accomplishments. Individual secondary schools are invited to petition for a local chapter, through which individuals may be inducted into Society membership. Immediate benefits of affiliation include academic recognition, scholarship and award eligibility, and opportunities for networking with others who share enthusiasm for, and accomplishment in, the language arts.
America’s first honor society was founded in 1776, but high school students didn’t have access to such organizations for another 150 years. Since then, high school honor societies have been developed in leadership, drama, journalism, French, Spanish, mathematics, the sciences, and in various other fields, but not in English. In 2005, National English Honor Society launched and has been growing steadily since, becoming one of the largest academic societies for secondary schools.
As Joyce Carol Oates writes, “This is the time for which we have been waiting.” Or perhaps it was Shakespeare: “Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer . . .” we celebrate English studies through NEHS.
National English Honor Society accepts submissions to our blog, NEHS Museletter, from all membership categories (students, Advisors, and alumni). If you are interested in submitting a blog, please read the Suggested Guidelines on our website. Email any questions and all submissions to: submit@nehsmuseletter.us.
