Hebrew Academy students walked down the aisle to music amongst cheers and applause to take the stage for the National Honor Society (NHS) Induction Ceremony this Thursday in the auditorium.
To qualify for the NHS, students must maintain a GPA of 3.7 or higher and perform extra hours of community service per year. This year the 21 returning members added five new students to their ranks. New members said they are proud of their accomplishments and glad to see their hard work pay off.
“It’s like a reward for the work that I put in and it feels good,” said Jacob Stein (10th grade). “I was working towards it because that’s a goal–that I want to be in it.”
Three-year NHS member Mark Alishayev (12th) opened the ceremony and introduced guest speaker Dr. Ari Ciment, who spoke about the importance of community service and the purpose behind it. Dr. Ciment played the guitar to demonstrate the importance of practice and perseverance. He explained that he used to play badly, but with practice and patience, he can now play. Dr. Ciment made several jokes, bringing the audience to laughter.
Head of School, Rabbi Kahn, recited a Dvar Torah at the induction ceremony. It included that the Torah begins with a Bet and ends with a Lamed, and when you put the two together it becomes “lev”, or heart. He said that “lev” represents the passion, heart, and commitment that each member of the society contributes.
Rabbi Assaraf also gave a Dvar Torah expressing a lesson about how everyone can succeed if they try.
The candles of Torah, Scholarship, Leadership, Character, and Service were traditionally lit by the seniors in the Honor Society.
The Ceremony ended with Shani Kravetz (12th), a senior member calling out the names of both new and old members. While they stood up and were honored, Vice Principals, Dr. Lieber and Rabbi Assaraf, handed the certificates to the new inductees. Eden Shushan (12th) recited the Honor’s Pledge and the new inductees were officially part of the society. Afterwards, members and their families met for brunch in the cafeteria.
The senior members must attain their GPA and continue with their community service in order to remain in the Honor Society. Many sacrifices are made by the NHS members in order to keep up their grades maintain their community service hours. Alishayev attributes a large part of his success to math teacher Mr. Innes.
“Mr. Innes gave a lot of work Freshmen year,” said Mark Alishayev (12th), “It taught you to get a better work ethic. It taught you what’s more important. You know? You gotta have priorities.”
New inductees said they worked long hours to keep up their grades, study, and complete their community service. They provided advice for those who are searching to be inducted to the society in the future.
“Just continue studying very very hard and keep putting in forth a lot a lot of effort,” said Dylan Del Giglio (11th). “Just keep studying and doing a lot of community service.”
By: Ava Horowitz (12th Grade)