Every new role begins with a first action. For our NEHS Poets Laureate, that action is a first poem: written not only for themselves, but for the wider NEHS community they now help to represent. These poems mark the beginning of their time as laureates, capturing voices in motion as students step into leadership through language. Guided and supported by their mentors, award-winning poets Billie Tadros and E. Kerr, our three Poets Laureate have been encouraged to take risks, trust their voices, and write with intention. What follows is a glimpse into how they see the world, what they value, and how they choose to express themselves at the start of this journey. We invite you to read their first poems in this role as an introduction—not just to their work, but also to the poets themselves as they begin shaping their role as inaugural NEHS Poets Laureate.
Josie Bednar, The Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School, TX
Theme: Social Justice
Josie Bednar, a senior at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy, spends most of her time working with her Raptor Chapter of NEHS, lovingly named so after their school mascot, the velociraptor. When not volunteering or organizing an NEHS project, she leads her local writing center and literary magazine, and in the rare spare hours studies like her life depends on it (which it basically does). Forcibly retired from the school basketball team by an ailment, she maintains that the University of Texas women’s team will someday win the national championships despite all evidence to the contrary. No one believes her.
Isaac Cavaciuti, Collier High School, NJ
Theme: Social Justice
Isaac Cavaciuti grew up in central New Jersey in a low-income family. As a toddler, his family introduced him to books and poems written by Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein, which cemented his love of poetry. He began to write poems at age six. In middle school, after being diagnosed with autism, coming out as transgender, and becoming physically disabled, Isaac experienced ruthless bullying and stopped writing altogether. He switched to a therapeutic school with a major focus on the arts and humanities in his freshman year. After being recommended for NEHS by his Creative Writing teacher, Isaac once again began to blossom into his literary and poetic identity. Isaac has been writing poetry and short stories nearly non-stop since then and hopes to use his love of writing to help others.
Patrick Keedy Brown, Ransom Everglades School, FL
Theme: Heritage
Patrick Keedy Brown is a senior at Ransom Everglades School in Miami, FL. A writer and advocate for creative expression, he is president of the Poetry & Writing Club and design editor of the literary magazine Inklings. Patrick is a 2025 YoungArts Winner in Writing, a two-time National Silver Medalist in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and recipient of the Brown University Book Award for excellence in English and written expression. A US Department of State NSLI-Y Scholar, he studied Mandarin in Taiwan and explores voice, myth, and cultural identity through his poetry and prose. He has performed his work at school and community literary events, where he explores how storytelling bridges personal and collective experience. His writing reimagines classical voices within modern settings, seeking to illuminate human resilience and empathy through language.
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.
