National Honor Society

To be eligible for membership in the NHS, a student must demonstrate excellence in four areas: scholarship, leadership, service and character.  A faculty committee will determine each student's eligibility as follows:

I. Scholarship

1. A student must be a full time student (receiving 7 credits at WCA).
2. Candidates must have attended WCA for the equivalent of at least one semester.
3. Cumulative grade point average for previous years in high school must be at least a 3.25 (rounded to the nearest hundredth) for any junior or senior being considered for membership. In addition to the cumulative average, a student must have at least a 3.25 average for the first semester of the school year that he or she is being considered for membership.
4. Members are required to maintain a 3.25 GPA. If a student's grades fall below 3.25, he or she will receive a warning and a grace period of one marking period in which to correct the grade deficiency. If the deficiency is not corrected within the grace period (excepting extenuating circumstances), the student will be dismissed from membership, and will forfeit all the privileges of membership. Grade deficiencies may not be corrected by dropping a class. A student will be allowed only two warnings during his entire NHS membership. Once a student is dismissed he or she is never again eligible for membership.
5. Students may transfer their membership from another school’s NHS chapter with a letter from the NHS advisor or principal who verifies their membership.

II. Leadership and Service

Each student must have participated during their high school years in a minimum of five activities from a minimum of three different categories, as listed on the application.

During each year that a student is a member he or she will be required to devote a minimum of nine hours of time to the approved group service project and a minimum of ten hours to an individual service project that reflects the student's interest. In addition, each member will be required to attend all NHS meetings and to do his or her share of the work during fund raising and other activities of the NHS. Any student who fails to meet this requirement will be assigned extra service hours. For each unexcused absence from a meeting, a student will be required to complete an additional service hour. Any student who fails to meet this requirement by a pre-assigned date may lose his or her membership.

III. Character

Each student will be rated on a scale of 1-5 by the teachers and sponsors he or she had in the current and the previous year. A student must receive an average rating of 3.75 or better to be eligible. If a student engages in any unacceptable behavior after becoming a member, he or she will be given a warning in writing by the chapter advisor. The advisor does, however, reserve the right to dismiss a student from membership in the case of a flagrant violation. If a student receives a second warning of unacceptable conduct, he or she must plead his or her case before members of the faculty council. The council will then determine if the student should forfeit his or her membership or receive some other type of reprimand. Each NHS member will be reviewed annually by the faculty council to determine if he or she continues to meet the qualifications for membership. All membership qualifications are subject to review by the faculty council.

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