NHS Elections

Election time has come again for the Dayton Regional STEM School's (DRSS) National Honor Society (NHS). On February 15th, elections for NHS officers were held. There were elections for six different positions: President, Vice President, Service Director, Secretary, Parliamentarian, and Public Relations Officer. Each of these positions are integral to making sure NHS runs smoothly.

Because DRSS’s NHS is student run, the President has the important job leading meetings and delegating tasks. They also are the main person in communication with Ms. Camden. In times when the President is unable to attend meetings, the Vice President temporarily takes over their responsibilities. In addition, the Vice President handles attendance and is the official treasurer who oversees NHS’s budget.

Where the Vice President takes care of the money, the Secretary is in charge of communicating with the rest of the NHS members whether via email or in person. They also take notes during all meetings. The Service Director and Parliamentarian’s jobs are closely related. The Service Director is in charge of finding service opportunities for the rest of the club, and the Parliamentarian’s job is to keep track of the service hours those opportunities provide for each NHS member. The Parliamentarian also keeps track of rules, probation, and decides whether hours count as personal or group hours. Finally, the Public Relations Officer manage communications with outside service and donation recipient groups.

This year, there were several juniors looking to fill those six positions. Only one student ran for President, thought the rest of the positions had multiple people running for them. (This student wishes to remain anonymous). Each candidate had to give a speech on why they would make a good officer. If they were running for more than one position, they gave their speech for their first positions and then their names were called for the other positions. Once their speeches were given the new NHS members (juniors) took a survey on who they wanted to be in that position. After all the votes were tallied, NHS had its new officers.

As there was only one person running for President, that student was automatically elected. However, that doesn’t mean they weren’t qualified. They are dedicated to being a good President, and was also chosen to be in a leadership position in other extracurricular activities. Similarly, the Vice President, Chloe Johnson, also has leadership experience. Chloe has been the Editor in Chief of the Journalism 101 class since the beginning of the school year.

Maya Quale, who was elected as Parliamentarian, is also a part of the Journalism 101 class, working as the Webmaster. Being the Webmaster requires organizational skills which will be useful in her job as Parliamentarian. The new Secretary, Bendic Pacia, will be in communication with the rest of the NHS members, making his interpersonal skills an important addition to NHS leadership.

Bri Perkins, who is the new Service Director, is also in the journalism class. Researching is an important factor in writing an article, just as it will be when finding organizations that NHS members can volunteer for.

Rachael Stowe, who is the Public Relations Officer, is one of the co-editors for this year’s Yearbook class. As such, she often communicates with her co-editor, other yearbook members, and Mrs. Cockroft, the teacher who advises the Yearbook staff. These communication skills will be useful when reaching out to outside service and donation recipient groups.