Scholarship, service, leadership, character, and citizenship — 22 students at the Springs School will now be upholding those pillars, having been part of the school’s first-ever National Junior Honor Society induction on May 20.
“It’s very special for the Springs School. A number of teachers brought it to our attention as an administration. They asked if this was something we’d consider and we were all on board,” said Nancy Carney, the superintendent. “We’re really excited and one of the things we want to do is make sure we acknowledge our brightest students and give them accolades and opportunities to show all that they can do in the world, not just with academics, but with community service and all of the different things that National Junior Honor Society honors.”
The 22 new members of the National Junior Honor Society are: Madeline Abran, Gael Barrera, Chase Borowsky, Daniel Buestan Cabrera, Addison Cinelli, Avery Dalene, Gracen Keyes, Maria Jose Lojano, Isabelle MacPherson, Matthew Morgan Jr., Wyatt Musser, Iris O’Brien, Natalia O’Brien, Ann Peterson, Saoirse Quinn, Ambar Reyes, Sofia Rowe, Dylan Sheades, Julia Stillman, Emerlyn Tran, Francisco Vazquez, and Elizabeth Yudovich.
Beyond academics, the seventh and eighth-grade inductees had to participate in their community both in and around their school
“They have to have a high G.P.A., above a 93, no rounding. They have to have at least 10 hours of community service to get in and then they have to continue to do community service each year that they’re in the program,” explained Melissa Knight, a fourth-grade teacher and one of the honor society advisers. “They have to be involved in at least one school activity whether it’s a sport, a musical, or a club. And they have to be a good role model, and get three recommendations from inside and outside of the school.”
For many of the inductees, meeting the requirements was no problem. Their days are already filled with activities.
“I’m the president of student council and captain of the volleyball team. I do four sports,” said Isabelle, an eighth grader. “I also do a bunch of things outside of school like chorus. I helped at my mom’s school, doing summer camp, and I helped out with religion at my church, and I helped coach my little sister in lacrosse.”
At a young age, they’re learning a lot about balance and hard work, figuring out how to maintain their grades and get their homework done, after running around to practices and club meetings.
“Balancing sports and school work is definitely a big thing. Getting all of the community service hours, helping out at fairs and stuff like that. I’m on the wrestling team and do track, volleyball, and field hockey,” said Iris, another eighth grader. “I think it’s just an honor to be a part of this community. It’s a lot of hard work, late nights working on our homework.”
The application process also allowed the school staff to get to know their students in a different way, working with them to showcase their talents.
“We do a lot of work to pump up these kids and highlight the great things that they do and it just seemed like the natural next step to have the honor society showing the top of the top, the peak of the peak. It isn’t just about academics. We’re looking at the whole child,” said Cory Strain, a social studies teacher who also advises the honor society. “It was a fun challenge and great to get to know these kids better than I already did.”
Francisco, also an eighth grader, volunteered at the East Hampton Historical Farm Museum and loved the experience of helping out and being recognized for it. “It means a lot to me. It’s the first year and I feel proud of myself,” he said.
“We are all about our students. We just want to find ways to celebrate them because our kids work so hard,” said Erik Kelt, the principal. “These are wonderful human beings up here and we want to celebrate that, and we’ve never had a platform to truly do it before. It’s just a fantastic thing.”