April 12, 2024 • 20 mins
Today we’re talking about the National Honor Society at the high school and the real commitment that society has to community service.
I think maybe we don’t celebrate enough the community service our students do. Just last week the Lakeview Elementary Student Council donated dozens of toys to an animal shelter and a box of tennis balls to the police department’s K-9 Unit - Rocket, who happily accepted them.
This winter the middle school spent six weeks or more on community service projects to build a sense of community inside the school.
At the high school level, the National Honor Society is one of the main vehicles for students to give back. In honor of the nearly 40 students inducted this week into the society, I thought it would be a good time to shed some light on that group and what they do for the school.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to the SMY Podcast, I'm your host, Dan Baider.
(00:06):
Today we're talking about the National Honor Society at the high school and the real commitment
that society has to community service.
I think maybe we don't celebrate enough the community service our students do.
Just last week, the Lakeview Elementary Student Council donated dozens of toys to an animal
shelter and a box of tennis balls to the police department's K-9 unit, Rocket, who happily
(00:29):
accepted them on behalf of all the dogs.
This winter, the middle school spent six weeks or more on community service projects to build
a sense of community inside the school.
At the high school level, the National Honor Society is one of the main vehicles for students
to give back.
In honor of the nearly 40 students inducted this week into the society, I thought it'd
(00:50):
be a good time to shed some light on that group.
So I invited in several of the students from the National Honor Society and their advisors
and all five of them crammed into my little office and shared one microphone.
You'll forgive us if you hear the microphone being moved around or some sound far away
because they couldn't lean in closer to it.
But yeah, so here they are.
(01:12):
Joining us today are the officers of the National Honor Society, Joseph.
Hello.
Brady.
Hello.
And Delvina.
Hello.
And their advisors, Mr. James Grassell.
Good afternoon.
And Mrs. Elizabeth Biskobink.
Good afternoon.
So guys, tell me what National Honor Society is.
(01:32):
Who wants to go first?
Mr. Grassell, tell me generally what...
So National Honor Society is a group of students who have not only performed well academically,
but they also have met the expectations of good character, good leadership, which is
something they kind of developed as they took over as officers in NHS.
(01:57):
Scholarship obviously, and then...
Service.
Service.
Service, Mr. Grassell.
Service.
Mrs. Biskobink, thank you for the reminder.
Absolutely.
The service component is something that they work on throughout their year plus in NHS.
Okay.
And is there a great...
That's Honor Society, right?
So there's a grade component to this too.
(02:20):
What grades you have to have to be in the Honor Society?
They should have a 3.4 GPA.
That's kind of like the gatekeeper, if you will, to get them in.
And then they do an application process.
And then a faculty committee just looks over their applications.
And for the most part, because we have really strong students overall, they're involved,
(02:44):
academically strong, we tend to get a lot of kids in there, which is great.
Okay.
So where do you start being part of the National Honor Society?
So after five semesters, so their junior year after the first semester ends, they go through
the application process.
And so then they pick up a couple of activities at the end of their junior year.
And then senior year, they get to kind of run with the organization and kind of decide
(03:08):
what they want to do with it.
Okay.
Do you guys want to share that experience about, like, what was it like when you were
inducted?
Because we just had an induction the other night of 38 new members.
Your class has 42, 42 members.
What was it like that night?
It just felt nice to be honored for like finally like getting grades.
(03:30):
Like obviously I've had good grades for a really long time, but I've never been like
felt special about it.
So it was like nice to be honored in that way.
Brady, how about you?
Yeah, I think it's cool that the graduating seniors are also there with the new inductees.
So growing up in high school, you kind of look up to those seniors.
So it's cool to be able to take their place.
(03:53):
And Joseph, any thoughts?
Kind of to piggyback off both of them.
I think what they said was really the truth with the peers, seeing the new seniors and
kind of interacting with people that are kind of in that academic aspect with you to really
be rewarded for your work is something that's nice to see as a student.
So I shared before we turned on the recording that I was part of that genre study.
(04:16):
But the service I think was probably left off of our qualifications.
I don't remember.
I mean, I was involved in student government, but I don't remember that being, I don't
remember there being continued service as the National Honor Society.
And you guys go out into the community and do things.
Can you give some of our listeners maybe an example of what you've done since you've been
(04:38):
members of the Honor Society?
Yeah, we definitely can.
I think I'll let Delveen and Brady also share, but just one of the community events that
we really hit home on in Salt Milwaukee is definitely our Veterans Day.
And our Veterans Day, I think that hits home to close for teachers and staff and family
because everyone has a veteran.
But really getting to see these veterans come from across the state or just Wisconsin and
really get to honor them all in that one day is definitely a good community experience
(05:01):
we share at the beginning of the year.
What kind of work is that?
What do you have to do for that?
That's setting up that we have tribute readers.
We have a parade we did in the last two years due to the COVID.
And we have a reception committee we set up as long with thank you gifts.
So about four different committees we use for that.
Sure.
Other thoughts?
What else have you guys done?
Yeah, this winter we were pretty active.
(05:24):
We did a Santa's workshop that we do every single year.
So community members come into the school with their kids and we do a number of activities
with them.
We do cookie decorating, arts and crafts, woodworking, just stuff to get them engaged.
And then we also did a winter celebration with the elementary schoolers going into the
(05:46):
elementary schools and reading books with them and doing activities.
Delvenia, what do you get out of doing things like that?
What's it like?
Well, I like love little kids.
I think they're just so cute.
And I remember at Santa's workshop we were cookie decorating.
And I think it was Miss Wesley's nephew.
They put him right next to me and he was making this cookie with just frosting and sprinkles
(06:10):
and he just put it all over his face.
And it just made me laugh.
That was a highlight of my day for sure.
Nice.
And what do you think you get out of, or what do you think the people that attend?
I think it's good to see us in action because it kind of makes you want to, I hope it makes
younger students want to strive to be like us.
And I think that's good because we need leaders in our future.
(06:34):
Yeah, sure.
I mean the district, the community in the district just went through this whole strategic
visioning process.
And one of those things they said, my group was about engagement, right?
That's all the community said they wanted was students in the community, the community
with the students maybe at the elementary level because they can't really leave, but
(06:56):
they recognize that impact and they want to see you guys out there more.
So I see what your point.
And then was there one experience over this last, well your last two years that stuck
out the most as being part of the honors society?
Help in the community.
I think you kind of say well, and what Delvina says, well when we get to see that interaction
(07:19):
and we know that we're helping community members is like specifically talking about the winter
workshop is like when I was being Santa in the chair and I got to interact with-
I thought you were Santa in the chair.
Yeah, many of the community members with their little children and seeing them in that different
aspect is I've had them as teachers, but when I was with their family and interacting, seeing
the little kids, knowing I made them feel better and during that giving season, I think
(07:40):
that's what it's all about in their society.
Joe, I think one of the important things that you might recall is when there was a little
boy who came in and he saw him and he stood back and he was hesitant and he's like, and
then I kind of pushed him that way and he said Santa, I missed you.
So it was just really, really cute.
He did, he did.
(08:02):
And so it's really neat to see that interaction between our bigger kids and our smaller kids
and everybody in between plus that interaction I think too with the older community members
through Veterans Day.
And so all these things I think are really awesome to see you guys in action and show
people what leaders do.
It's not just, oh, I have to do volunteerism.
(08:22):
It's I go out and I serve my community.
Yeah, I was going to ask either of you teachers about that.
In general, as a program or as a school or an organization, tell me the value of engaging
students in this way in their community as part of development.
(08:43):
What's been real nice to see over the years is Mrs. Biskoping and I facilitate and we
give leadership to the kids.
And at first we're not sure how it's going to go because it's on tested waters, but this
group this year, I can speak to that, right away jumped in and had good ideas and this
is what we want to do and they wanted to provide direction.
And then you could see it wasn't just top down dictate how it was going to go.
(09:06):
It was like, all right, now we got to get the rest of the group involved.
And then as they all got involved, just sitting back as an advisor and watching it was really
neat to see leadership develop not only within the officers, but within the rest of the group.
I was just saying that occurred to me that you must have seen growth from the beginning
of the year to the end of the year, right?
Demonstrable growth.
Oh, definitely.
One of the activities coming up that we have for Earth Week next week and you guys planned
(09:32):
this out starting last year, so it was kind of your, or two years ago was it, our groups
kind of came together and decided we want to hit up the elementary schools again.
And so students, our officers plus others in the group went and contacted principals
and are setting everything up and they set up appointment slots and we're going to hit
the grade schools up on Earth Day to do a variety of activities, which maybe you guys
(09:55):
can speak to that a little bit.
Yeah, what do you have planned?
I'm just going to interrupt a little bit too because that is also what's cool about that
particular event I think is that it's a combined effort with SM Green.
And SM Green originally started that going to the elementary schools, reading to the
students, and then we've got members who are crossing over both of those.
And Brady, I think you're one of those, right?
(10:17):
And so to see that.
What is SM Green?
Go ahead, Brady.
Yeah.
Sorry, I'm going to interrupt.
SM Green is our school's environmental club, so we focus on not only just like our greenhouse
and maintenance of that and the garden, but we also work to engage the community and sustainability.
Got it.
So Earth Day is a pretty huge day for you guys.
Yeah.
(10:37):
And the energy that they come back with, like last year you were a part of that as well.
The energy that they come back with is also going to be a cool activity for them to do
because it's the seniors with the juniors plus SM Green and they're all going out into
the elementary schools to read to the kids, to do activities with the kids.
And I think that's big.
Davina, you talked about how the recognition of the grades and the work that you'd put
(11:04):
in to get those grades really mattered.
But being part of National Honor Society, has it mattered in your after high school
plans?
I think it will because I was never like one that would always volunteer.
And this year we were required to have 20 hours of volunteer work.
And I don't know.
How many do you have?
I think I have 18.
(11:25):
And I don't know why I like volunteering.
I like seeing kids smile.
I like seeing them enjoy things.
So that's definitely something I'm going to take.
Along with leadership, I've learned some skills in this club and it's going to help me benefit
in the future.
How about career and college applications?
Or have you had to include that if they asked for that on application?
They have.
(11:46):
They usually ask for leadership skills, like what are some leadership experiences you've
had and it's really helped.
That fits in there.
And is there a specific tradition in South Milwaukee with the National Honor Society?
I mean I described the contrast between the one I was part of.
What is, if you had to give an elevator pitch about what National Honor Society is in South
(12:13):
Milwaukee or what makes it special in South Milwaukee, what would you say?
I think I had a similar experience as you did.
Yeah.
I was part of the National Honor Society in high school.
I was a secretary.
Nice job, Delvina.
But we had two service projects and it was just a large group.
I think what this one does is traditionally we had the haunted hallway around Halloween
(12:38):
time and then we had the typical ones like the Santa's workshop.
So we do these things.
But I think what makes it really cool is how these kids, and these are representative of
42 others or 39 others, I'll do my math, others who really represent South Milwaukee's character.
(12:59):
So I think this is such a unique place that if it's what National Honor Society is, is
like these kids are leaders.
They are all leaders.
And we might have those traditional things, but they come with the ideas of, hey, like
Delvina, you said, can we go out to the elementary schools before break and read to them?
Go ahead, make it fly.
So I think that's what's really cool is to highlight what they come in with for their
(13:21):
own ideas.
And they also help tutor other people.
They help their neighbors.
They help with shoveling.
So these are kids who just go out and do these things.
And I think that is what makes it so special.
But that's also what's representative of what South Milwaukee is all about.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
Actually, now that I think about it, like a couple of years ago, I think you did Trunk
or Treat, right?
(13:41):
That was in the park because of COVID, right?
It was outside.
Then what does it mean to the district, I guess, to have such an active honors study?
I'm sure the elementary teachers appreciate the reading.
But in general, just in my mind, it raises the esteem.
But I'm wondering what you guys think.
(14:04):
Kind of going back to what they were saying earlier, when they set things up and they
get out in the community, we hear back and we get a lot of feedback and people are really
happy.
But we're now getting kids that are coming into the high school that remember things
like Santa's workshop when they were younger, they were here in the haunted hallway and
that experience.
And I think what you guys don't realize as students in it is that these kids are looking
(14:27):
up and they're watching everything you do.
So you've been extremely great positive role models and they see kids who are academically
successful and not limited to just NHS.
All these guys are involved in other extracurriculars and they put 100% into them.
So it's a really unique group of kids because they're not just doing NHS, they're doing
a lot of other things and they are becoming true leaders of the school.
(14:50):
Unfortunately, they're graduating soon.
Well spreading out into the larger world, I guess, right?
But I think what it also highlights is that we've got these really strong academic kids
and they're also strong in character and they're also, you know, their leadership.
So I think what it does is it highlights kids who are normally really quite humble and don't
(15:11):
necessarily say, here I am, you know, I've got this GPA or I do this involvement or I
do that.
They just naturally do these things and I think it highlights that part of who we are
that we don't often see.
We might see things that are more negative and I'm not going to get into negatives, but
I do think like the positives are highlighted with these kids.
They represent what we're all about and it's just such a cool group of students to work
(15:36):
with but it's just a portion of all of the great things that we've got going on, I think.
Okay.
I guess how many, we kind of hit on how many are in your class and how many are in this
(15:57):
incoming group, but in general, is there like a Z-sheet between 30 and 40?
How many kids are inducted every year to this?
Good question.
Like last year's group of 42 and this year's of 38, we had seen groups that got into the
upper 60s in numbers and usually kids with the invite process after the five semesters,
(16:22):
we have some kids who don't want to choose it because they feel like there's too much
to do.
Yeah, I see that.
And we've never sold it, and I was kind of laughing when Delvina said, well, I had to
do 20 hours.
If you look across the board, it varies per school, but we're trying to find something
that would help them balance community involvement and then some additional hours.
And so there's little community involvement going on with those 20 hours, which is really
(16:44):
cool.
They're helping out people next door to maybe with something like shoveling or leaf raking
and things like that.
It seems small or trivial, but at the same time, it helps somebody out.
They know that the kids are from the high school, so I think it paints an accurate picture
of how truly great our kids can be.
The numbers, I think, fluctuate because I think as kids have become involved, they're
(17:09):
worried about having too much to do, whereas these guys have a lot on their plate, but
they still balance it out.
So I think if people look into it, I think their numbers will start to go up eventually
again because they can see that they are balancing things out, which is neat.
And again, it's showing kids can take ownership and leadership of what they're involved in.
Sure.
So students, any last thoughts about what National Honor Society has meant to you since
(17:35):
you've been here or about opportunities to volunteer or?
Yeah.
I think that NHS, it's not only just a recognition of our efforts we've put in so far, but it's
also an opportunity to kind of prove ourselves as leaders, as people of character, scholars,
all that.
Okay.
And is there anything that I didn't ask about this that's really important to National Honor
(17:59):
Society that we need to have that the community needs to know?
I just want to say, I think people kind of confuse what our goal is.
I think our goal is to help unify and get people involved everywhere, and that's kind
of what our goal has been this year, and that's why we've done so many community activities.
And I want people to know that and remember that we're trying to help influence the younger
(18:22):
generation.
That's our goal.
And have you seen that?
Did you get students who are not in the National Honor Society like volunteer or to participate?
Yeah, we get a bunch of people that aren't in NHS that were like, here, can you help
us?
And they're open to helping 100%.
I definitely think if you have a strong etiquette and you think you're a leader or a character
(18:42):
and you have the grades, definitely go for it, because in our organization, I think that's
what it's about.
We share all our different strengths and weaknesses, whether you're good at art, social skills,
or you're good with the logistics, the schedule, and behind the scenes, we need it all.
And if you have it and you're a leader, NHS would be good.
Thanks again to Joseph, Brady, and Delvina for coming in, and to Mr. Grassel and Ms.
(19:08):
Biscobing for pulling everybody together and coming in to talk about community service,
which was, in fact, community service in itself.
If you, I mentioned Rocket at the top of the story, at the top of the episode, the canine.
I did a little video and have someone in the classroom about it.
So if you want to see him accepting those tennis balls, it's really cute.
(19:30):
Check it out on Lakeview's website or on our YouTube channel.
And there's more information about how that middle school project I mentioned on a past
episode of this podcast.
Thank you to the students that do volunteer, to our teachers who advise them, and to the
community that welcomes them in.
(19:50):
This is an important part of what we do here at South Milwaukee.
I appreciate it.
Thanks.
This has been the SMA Podcast, and we will see you next time.
Welcome to the SMY Podcast, I'm your host, Dan Baider.
(00:06):
Today we're talking about the National Honor Society at the high school and the real commitment
that society has to community service.
I think maybe we don't celebrate enough the community service our students do.
Just last week, the Lakeview Elementary Student Council donated dozens of toys to an animal
shelter and a box of tennis balls to the police department's K-9 unit, Rocket, who happily
(00:29):
accepted them on behalf of all the dogs.
This winter, the middle school spent six weeks or more on community service projects to build
a sense of community inside the school.
At the high school level, the National Honor Society is one of the main vehicles for students
to give back.
In honor of the nearly 40 students inducted this week into the society, I thought it'd
(00:50):
be a good time to shed some light on that group.
So I invited in several of the students from the National Honor Society and their advisors
and all five of them crammed into my little office and shared one microphone.
You'll forgive us if you hear the microphone being moved around or some sound far away
because they couldn't lean in closer to it.
But yeah, so here they are.
(01:12):
Joining us today are the officers of the National Honor Society, Joseph.
Hello.
Brady.
Hello.
And Delvina.
Hello.
And their advisors, Mr. James Grassell.
Good afternoon.
And Mrs. Elizabeth Biskobink.
Good afternoon.
So guys, tell me what National Honor Society is.
(01:32):
Who wants to go first?
Mr. Grassell, tell me generally what...
So National Honor Society is a group of students who have not only performed well academically,
but they also have met the expectations of good character, good leadership, which is
something they kind of developed as they took over as officers in NHS.
(01:57):
Scholarship obviously, and then...
Service.
Service.
Service, Mr. Grassell.
Service.
Mrs. Biskobink, thank you for the reminder.
Absolutely.
The service component is something that they work on throughout their year plus in NHS.
Okay.
And is there a great...
That's Honor Society, right?
So there's a grade component to this too.
(02:20):
What grades you have to have to be in the Honor Society?
They should have a 3.4 GPA.
That's kind of like the gatekeeper, if you will, to get them in.
And then they do an application process.
And then a faculty committee just looks over their applications.
And for the most part, because we have really strong students overall, they're involved,
(02:44):
academically strong, we tend to get a lot of kids in there, which is great.
Okay.
So where do you start being part of the National Honor Society?
So after five semesters, so their junior year after the first semester ends, they go through
the application process.
And so then they pick up a couple of activities at the end of their junior year.
And then senior year, they get to kind of run with the organization and kind of decide
(03:08):
what they want to do with it.
Okay.
Do you guys want to share that experience about, like, what was it like when you were
inducted?
Because we just had an induction the other night of 38 new members.
Your class has 42, 42 members.
What was it like that night?
It just felt nice to be honored for like finally like getting grades.
(03:30):
Like obviously I've had good grades for a really long time, but I've never been like
felt special about it.
So it was like nice to be honored in that way.
Brady, how about you?
Yeah, I think it's cool that the graduating seniors are also there with the new inductees.
So growing up in high school, you kind of look up to those seniors.
So it's cool to be able to take their place.
(03:53):
And Joseph, any thoughts?
Kind of to piggyback off both of them.
I think what they said was really the truth with the peers, seeing the new seniors and
kind of interacting with people that are kind of in that academic aspect with you to really
be rewarded for your work is something that's nice to see as a student.
So I shared before we turned on the recording that I was part of that genre study.
(04:16):
But the service I think was probably left off of our qualifications.
I don't remember.
I mean, I was involved in student government, but I don't remember that being, I don't
remember there being continued service as the National Honor Society.
And you guys go out into the community and do things.
Can you give some of our listeners maybe an example of what you've done since you've been
(04:38):
members of the Honor Society?
Yeah, we definitely can.
I think I'll let Delveen and Brady also share, but just one of the community events that
we really hit home on in Salt Milwaukee is definitely our Veterans Day.
And our Veterans Day, I think that hits home to close for teachers and staff and family
because everyone has a veteran.
But really getting to see these veterans come from across the state or just Wisconsin and
really get to honor them all in that one day is definitely a good community experience
(05:01):
we share at the beginning of the year.
What kind of work is that?
What do you have to do for that?
That's setting up that we have tribute readers.
We have a parade we did in the last two years due to the COVID.
And we have a reception committee we set up as long with thank you gifts.
So about four different committees we use for that.
Sure.
Other thoughts?
What else have you guys done?
Yeah, this winter we were pretty active.
(05:24):
We did a Santa's workshop that we do every single year.
So community members come into the school with their kids and we do a number of activities
with them.
We do cookie decorating, arts and crafts, woodworking, just stuff to get them engaged.
And then we also did a winter celebration with the elementary schoolers going into the
(05:46):
elementary schools and reading books with them and doing activities.
Delvenia, what do you get out of doing things like that?
What's it like?
Well, I like love little kids.
I think they're just so cute.
And I remember at Santa's workshop we were cookie decorating.
And I think it was Miss Wesley's nephew.
They put him right next to me and he was making this cookie with just frosting and sprinkles
(06:10):
and he just put it all over his face.
And it just made me laugh.
That was a highlight of my day for sure.
Nice.
And what do you think you get out of, or what do you think the people that attend?
I think it's good to see us in action because it kind of makes you want to, I hope it makes
younger students want to strive to be like us.
And I think that's good because we need leaders in our future.
(06:34):
Yeah, sure.
I mean the district, the community in the district just went through this whole strategic
visioning process.
And one of those things they said, my group was about engagement, right?
That's all the community said they wanted was students in the community, the community
with the students maybe at the elementary level because they can't really leave, but
(06:56):
they recognize that impact and they want to see you guys out there more.
So I see what your point.
And then was there one experience over this last, well your last two years that stuck
out the most as being part of the honors society?
Help in the community.
I think you kind of say well, and what Delvina says, well when we get to see that interaction
(07:19):
and we know that we're helping community members is like specifically talking about the winter
workshop is like when I was being Santa in the chair and I got to interact with-
I thought you were Santa in the chair.
Yeah, many of the community members with their little children and seeing them in that different
aspect is I've had them as teachers, but when I was with their family and interacting, seeing
the little kids, knowing I made them feel better and during that giving season, I think
(07:40):
that's what it's all about in their society.
Joe, I think one of the important things that you might recall is when there was a little
boy who came in and he saw him and he stood back and he was hesitant and he's like, and
then I kind of pushed him that way and he said Santa, I missed you.
So it was just really, really cute.
He did, he did.
(08:02):
And so it's really neat to see that interaction between our bigger kids and our smaller kids
and everybody in between plus that interaction I think too with the older community members
through Veterans Day.
And so all these things I think are really awesome to see you guys in action and show
people what leaders do.
It's not just, oh, I have to do volunteerism.
(08:22):
It's I go out and I serve my community.
Yeah, I was going to ask either of you teachers about that.
In general, as a program or as a school or an organization, tell me the value of engaging
students in this way in their community as part of development.
(08:43):
What's been real nice to see over the years is Mrs. Biskoping and I facilitate and we
give leadership to the kids.
And at first we're not sure how it's going to go because it's on tested waters, but this
group this year, I can speak to that, right away jumped in and had good ideas and this
is what we want to do and they wanted to provide direction.
And then you could see it wasn't just top down dictate how it was going to go.
(09:06):
It was like, all right, now we got to get the rest of the group involved.
And then as they all got involved, just sitting back as an advisor and watching it was really
neat to see leadership develop not only within the officers, but within the rest of the group.
I was just saying that occurred to me that you must have seen growth from the beginning
of the year to the end of the year, right?
Demonstrable growth.
Oh, definitely.
One of the activities coming up that we have for Earth Week next week and you guys planned
(09:32):
this out starting last year, so it was kind of your, or two years ago was it, our groups
kind of came together and decided we want to hit up the elementary schools again.
And so students, our officers plus others in the group went and contacted principals
and are setting everything up and they set up appointment slots and we're going to hit
the grade schools up on Earth Day to do a variety of activities, which maybe you guys
(09:55):
can speak to that a little bit.
Yeah, what do you have planned?
I'm just going to interrupt a little bit too because that is also what's cool about that
particular event I think is that it's a combined effort with SM Green.
And SM Green originally started that going to the elementary schools, reading to the
students, and then we've got members who are crossing over both of those.
And Brady, I think you're one of those, right?
(10:17):
And so to see that.
What is SM Green?
Go ahead, Brady.
Yeah.
Sorry, I'm going to interrupt.
SM Green is our school's environmental club, so we focus on not only just like our greenhouse
and maintenance of that and the garden, but we also work to engage the community and sustainability.
Got it.
So Earth Day is a pretty huge day for you guys.
Yeah.
(10:37):
And the energy that they come back with, like last year you were a part of that as well.
The energy that they come back with is also going to be a cool activity for them to do
because it's the seniors with the juniors plus SM Green and they're all going out into
the elementary schools to read to the kids, to do activities with the kids.
And I think that's big.
Davina, you talked about how the recognition of the grades and the work that you'd put
(11:04):
in to get those grades really mattered.
But being part of National Honor Society, has it mattered in your after high school
plans?
I think it will because I was never like one that would always volunteer.
And this year we were required to have 20 hours of volunteer work.
And I don't know.
How many do you have?
I think I have 18.
(11:25):
And I don't know why I like volunteering.
I like seeing kids smile.
I like seeing them enjoy things.
So that's definitely something I'm going to take.
Along with leadership, I've learned some skills in this club and it's going to help me benefit
in the future.
How about career and college applications?
Or have you had to include that if they asked for that on application?
They have.
(11:46):
They usually ask for leadership skills, like what are some leadership experiences you've
had and it's really helped.
That fits in there.
And is there a specific tradition in South Milwaukee with the National Honor Society?
I mean I described the contrast between the one I was part of.
What is, if you had to give an elevator pitch about what National Honor Society is in South
(12:13):
Milwaukee or what makes it special in South Milwaukee, what would you say?
I think I had a similar experience as you did.
Yeah.
I was part of the National Honor Society in high school.
I was a secretary.
Nice job, Delvina.
But we had two service projects and it was just a large group.
I think what this one does is traditionally we had the haunted hallway around Halloween
(12:38):
time and then we had the typical ones like the Santa's workshop.
So we do these things.
But I think what makes it really cool is how these kids, and these are representative of
42 others or 39 others, I'll do my math, others who really represent South Milwaukee's character.
(12:59):
So I think this is such a unique place that if it's what National Honor Society is, is
like these kids are leaders.
They are all leaders.
And we might have those traditional things, but they come with the ideas of, hey, like
Delvina, you said, can we go out to the elementary schools before break and read to them?
Go ahead, make it fly.
So I think that's what's really cool is to highlight what they come in with for their
(13:21):
own ideas.
And they also help tutor other people.
They help their neighbors.
They help with shoveling.
So these are kids who just go out and do these things.
And I think that is what makes it so special.
But that's also what's representative of what South Milwaukee is all about.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
Actually, now that I think about it, like a couple of years ago, I think you did Trunk
or Treat, right?
(13:41):
That was in the park because of COVID, right?
It was outside.
Then what does it mean to the district, I guess, to have such an active honors study?
I'm sure the elementary teachers appreciate the reading.
But in general, just in my mind, it raises the esteem.
But I'm wondering what you guys think.
(14:04):
Kind of going back to what they were saying earlier, when they set things up and they
get out in the community, we hear back and we get a lot of feedback and people are really
happy.
But we're now getting kids that are coming into the high school that remember things
like Santa's workshop when they were younger, they were here in the haunted hallway and
that experience.
And I think what you guys don't realize as students in it is that these kids are looking
(14:27):
up and they're watching everything you do.
So you've been extremely great positive role models and they see kids who are academically
successful and not limited to just NHS.
All these guys are involved in other extracurriculars and they put 100% into them.
So it's a really unique group of kids because they're not just doing NHS, they're doing
a lot of other things and they are becoming true leaders of the school.
(14:50):
Unfortunately, they're graduating soon.
Well spreading out into the larger world, I guess, right?
But I think what it also highlights is that we've got these really strong academic kids
and they're also strong in character and they're also, you know, their leadership.
So I think what it does is it highlights kids who are normally really quite humble and don't
(15:11):
necessarily say, here I am, you know, I've got this GPA or I do this involvement or I
do that.
They just naturally do these things and I think it highlights that part of who we are
that we don't often see.
We might see things that are more negative and I'm not going to get into negatives, but
I do think like the positives are highlighted with these kids.
They represent what we're all about and it's just such a cool group of students to work
(15:36):
with but it's just a portion of all of the great things that we've got going on, I think.
Okay.
I guess how many, we kind of hit on how many are in your class and how many are in this
(15:57):
incoming group, but in general, is there like a Z-sheet between 30 and 40?
How many kids are inducted every year to this?
Good question.
Like last year's group of 42 and this year's of 38, we had seen groups that got into the
upper 60s in numbers and usually kids with the invite process after the five semesters,
(16:22):
we have some kids who don't want to choose it because they feel like there's too much
to do.
Yeah, I see that.
And we've never sold it, and I was kind of laughing when Delvina said, well, I had to
do 20 hours.
If you look across the board, it varies per school, but we're trying to find something
that would help them balance community involvement and then some additional hours.
And so there's little community involvement going on with those 20 hours, which is really
(16:44):
cool.
They're helping out people next door to maybe with something like shoveling or leaf raking
and things like that.
It seems small or trivial, but at the same time, it helps somebody out.
They know that the kids are from the high school, so I think it paints an accurate picture
of how truly great our kids can be.
The numbers, I think, fluctuate because I think as kids have become involved, they're
(17:09):
worried about having too much to do, whereas these guys have a lot on their plate, but
they still balance it out.
So I think if people look into it, I think their numbers will start to go up eventually
again because they can see that they are balancing things out, which is neat.
And again, it's showing kids can take ownership and leadership of what they're involved in.
Sure.
So students, any last thoughts about what National Honor Society has meant to you since
(17:35):
you've been here or about opportunities to volunteer or?
Yeah.
I think that NHS, it's not only just a recognition of our efforts we've put in so far, but it's
also an opportunity to kind of prove ourselves as leaders, as people of character, scholars,
all that.
Okay.
And is there anything that I didn't ask about this that's really important to National Honor
(17:59):
Society that we need to have that the community needs to know?
I just want to say, I think people kind of confuse what our goal is.
I think our goal is to help unify and get people involved everywhere, and that's kind
of what our goal has been this year, and that's why we've done so many community activities.
And I want people to know that and remember that we're trying to help influence the younger
(18:22):
generation.
That's our goal.
And have you seen that?
Did you get students who are not in the National Honor Society like volunteer or to participate?
Yeah, we get a bunch of people that aren't in NHS that were like, here, can you help
us?
And they're open to helping 100%.
I definitely think if you have a strong etiquette and you think you're a leader or a character
(18:42):
and you have the grades, definitely go for it, because in our organization, I think that's
what it's about.
We share all our different strengths and weaknesses, whether you're good at art, social skills,
or you're good with the logistics, the schedule, and behind the scenes, we need it all.
And if you have it and you're a leader, NHS would be good.
Thanks again to Joseph, Brady, and Delvina for coming in, and to Mr. Grassel and Ms.
(19:08):
Biscobing for pulling everybody together and coming in to talk about community service,
which was, in fact, community service in itself.
If you, I mentioned Rocket at the top of the story, at the top of the episode, the canine.
I did a little video and have someone in the classroom about it.
So if you want to see him accepting those tennis balls, it's really cute.
(19:30):
Check it out on Lakeview's website or on our YouTube channel.
And there's more information about how that middle school project I mentioned on a past
episode of this podcast.
Thank you to the students that do volunteer, to our teachers who advise them, and to the
community that welcomes them in.
(19:50):
This is an important part of what we do here at South Milwaukee.
I appreciate it.
Thanks.
This has been the SMA Podcast, and we will see you next time.
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