The application deadline for National Honor Society (NHS) is approaching on Friday, October 16 at 11:59 p.m. All juniors and seniors who meet the NHS requirements are eligible to apply. Unlike previous years, the application is completely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has posed some slight changes to the process.

The NHS officers have created many resources on the website to guide applicants such as a tutorial video, a flyer with applicant requirements, and the two required application forms. All applicants should submit their required forms online and get their sponsors’ signatures through email and Google Docs. 

“We have had to make a lot of adjustments to the whole process just like any other organization has,” NHS Vice President Deepti Choudhury ‘21 said. “As officers, we still sort the application materials, but electronically instead [this year], and then send them off to the faculty members to review.”

Some changes have been made to the process of getting approval for activities. For instance, most places previously requiring signatures now simply require typed initials.

“In the past, students would get signatures from their counselors confirming they have the required GPA to be a member,” NHS President Arjun Seth ‘21 said. This year because of the online school setting, we will do that confirmation for them, so applicants won’t have to worry about that.”

In addition to adjusting the application for this year, opportunities for volunteering and community service activities have been altered due to online school. However, even though some traditional events and volunteer opportunities have been limited, the officers are making arrangements for more opportunities for members to continue serving the community.

“We have really expanded our NHS tutoring program to assist students virtually, and try and help fill in gaps in learning with school being online,” Choudhury ‘21 said. “We recently received permission to do a food drive, so we are really excited to get that started.”

With these new plans set in place for members to safely stay involved in community service, NHS members are required to complete five inside hours and five outside hours. 

“NHS members are always held to high standards of leadership, service, and academics,” Seth ‘21 said. “As usual, NHS members will be expected to give back to the Westwood and broader communities and we offer opportunities for our members to do so.” 

The officers hosted a Question and Answer session on Tuesday, October 6th for applicants to ask any last minute questions about the applications or about NHS in general.

“The Q&A was helpful,” Applicant Nashitha Azeez ‘22 said. “There are a lot of cool things that NHS does like the Thirst Project, and I would like to be a part of that.”

To access the officers’ contact information, resources, club requirements, and all other information about applications, visit the NHS website,www.tinyurl.com/westwoodnhs,. All application materials must be emailed to: [email protected].