The National Honor Society Induction Ceremony took place on November 13. The hallway was crowded with inductees at around 6:30 p.m., lined up and ready to get their pictures taken on the main staircase.

The ceremony began with an opening message from Mrs. Durann Ecalono, co-adviser for NHS. The NHS officers each described a trait: scholarship, service, leadership, and character.

Following the lighting of candles, Mrs. Beth Ericsson, biology teacher, delivered the keynote speech.

Ericsson was quick to point out the ceremony took place on the same day was World Kindness Day and that the word of the day of Words With Friends was “altruism,” which is the belief or act of selflessness.  She concluded with some words the bassist from her favorite band, The Grateful Dead closes all his concerts with: “Goodnight and be kind.”

Afterwards, each of the NHS officers, Caroline Etherton, Olivia Gagne, Emily Wolfe, Savannah Sitler, Jane Quackenbush, Kaley Henyon, and Shelby Tkacik took turns introducing every inductee as they walked across the stage to receive their certificate.

Some of the things said about students inducted were their hobbies, their job experience, where they wish to attend college or what they wish to do in the future, and some of the leadership activities they are involved in.

The students all had huge smiles on their faces as they shook the hands of  Principal, Mrs. Nancy Doll, Mrs. Ecalono, and Ms. Jessica Baker.

The night ended with some light refreshments out on Main Street and photos with friends and family.

Junior Elizabeth Anderson said, “It’s really cool to be a part of something with people who are just as driven to make the world a better place.” 

NHS is not only recognition for character and academic achievement, it’s really focused on community service and giving back to your community. According to NHS President, Caroline Etherton, they sponser a Halloween goodie bag donation for the homeless and a Linganore talent show to raise money for a different cause every year.

Something they’re trying to do different this year, is trying to do a different service project every month. “Doing things in the community like [volunteering] really gets you a lot of connections, and it’s cool to see the difference a group can make,” said Etherton. “We try to emphasize the willingness to set aside your own interests for the interests of other people.”

Congratulations to Emily Albertson, Elizabeth Anderson, Macy Armagost, Colby Bannon, Dominic Barbagallo, Kyle Bedard, Jacob Blue, Lauren Boyd, Katie Brengel, Jessica Buntman, Emily Byrnes, Victoria Captain, Colin Choudhary, Emily Cole, Sarah Curley, Rachel Eaves, Gerald Fattah, Taylor Ferguson, Kayla Freeman, Alison Gagne, Matthew Gelhard, Evan Gobien, Luke Goundry, Rachel Hall, Patricia Hatley, Harrison Heitzig, Zachary Hunsaker, Colby Huston, Alexander Ismael, Madeline Kahler, Shannon Kleinmann, Olivia Kuehner, Dana Kullgren, Sean Lang, Hunter Levinson, Lawrence Liu, Morgan Matthews, Eilís McCormick, Yesenia Montenegro, Ryan Moore, Rachel Morin, Nicole Muller, John “JD” Murtagh, Kali Nanavaty, Aaron Oman, Caitlin Peigh, Olivia Pietanza, Christina Powell, Hannah Ratchford, Megan Reesman, Abigail Rieland, Solana Rios, Katie Roach, Garrett Safsten, Matthew Schiller, Nicholas Schmidt, Emily Sedgwick, Emily Shumate, Alexandra Sible, Kenleigh Smith, Alyson Sniffen, Haley Stone, Kelly Stouffer, Lily Weaver, Emily Webb, Braden Weinel, Kelsey Wiegand, Austin Wilhelm, Hunter Wolfe, and Devin Wynne.