Change is a prevalent topic in our school district as of late and NHS is no exception. After debate and consultation, the National Honors Society has decided to roll out new changes in policy this year. These include the abolishment of the much-hated “three-strike system” and the introduction of a new “pod cup”.

Over the summer, the National Honor Society overhauled some of their policies in an effort to increase member participation in both the groups various service projects and the group itself. Overhauls include the attendance system, “pods” and the introduction of a pod cup.

One of these changes is the reorganization of the pod system.

“We’re doing the pods a little differently this year,” said NHS president Sophia Portelli (’15).

The intent of this is to encourage pod members to participate in many of the NHS service projects rather than only participating in the project specific to their pod, as was a problem in years past. The pods are now organized into five groups with no specific focus on an NHS service activity. This way students do not feel chained to one activity and instead are free to pursue as many as they like.

“We’re not doing coffee house pod or blood drive pod,” Portelli added.

The results of these changes to everyday NHS life are already being seen.

“I’ve heard a lot more people have signed up for the blood drive than ever before so that’s pretty cool.” said Teresa Romportl (’16).

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The addition of the so-called pod cup is one major change this year.

“It’s kinda like the house cup from Harry Potter,” said Portelli.
In a similar system to that in the popular book series, the five NHS pods will compete to see which pod can get the most points.

“You get points if you attend meetings, if you do school service events, stuff like that,” added Portelli.
Points will be tallied by pod leaders through this variety of factors and summed up at the end of the semester .While the prize is still being determined, the pod cup is already in full swing.

“The pod cup is definitely the thing I’m look forward to the most,” said Romportl.

NHS’s position on discipline and attendance has also been changed. The three-strike system used in years prior has been changed to a more personal system of one-on-one checks between a member and their pod leader.

“Our officers wanted students to comply with the expectations of National Honors Society,” said Chris Engler, NHS advisor and history teacher.

A more personal system is supposed to build more support for the students that are absent more and getting the pod leader more familiar with their members. This way the group can be more cohesive and more of a comfortable place for many members.

“They’re gonna challenge their students,” added Chris Engler, referring to how the pod leaders want to form a positive and healthy competitive environment to built participation within the group.

The goal of all these changes is raise the activism level within NHS and to create a much more fun and enjoyable experience for it’s members. With these new rules, the NHS leadership believes it can accomplish these goals.