As The Storm King School prepares for the arrival of its students for the upcoming fall semester, the SKS Chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) is looking forward to working with five new members who were inducted at the end of the 2017-2018 school year.
On the morning of Thursday, May 31, the five juniors and two graduating seniors were recognized for their accomplishments both in and out of the classroom as they were inducted into the NHS at a traditional candle-lighting ceremony held in the Walter Reade Jr. Theatre.
New inductees are carefully chosen by SKS faculty for their outstanding performance in the four areas the NHS deems essential for its members–scholarship, service, leadership, and character. These characteristics have been associated with NHS membership since its founding in 1921.
NHS member Polina Shlovskaya ’18 with the drum she painted for the Crazy Horse Memorial now on display at the Crazy Horse Memorial Museum
SKS’ NHS Adviser delivered the evening’s opening words, where he praised NHS members for their outstanding contributions to causes like the Crazy Horse Memorial, Riverkeeper, the Newburgh Armory, and Storm King’s neighbor Black Rock Forest among others. He also praised the work of SKS’ Green Team, NHS student-tutors, and other initiatives NHS members led on the SKS campus.
Prior to the inductions, SKS Green Team leader Aryana Martin ’18 presented the team’s initiative to reduce the use of plastic straws, and graduating seniors Omofolarin “DJ” Omofayole and Stepanie Appiah stood up to thank the students and faculty who participated in “The Plunge” to raise money for Black Rock Forest. Five graduating seniors also received awards for their “Excellence in Action,” including Aryana Martin, Polina Shlovskaya, Grace Yumeng Song, DJ Omofayole, and Stephanie Appiah.
Students and faculty “Take the Plunge” into the icy Hudson River for Black Rock
To begin the candle lighting ceremony the NHS Adviser invited four current NHS members to the stage, each lighting a candle representing one of NHS’ core values. Zay Megias ’18 lit the candle for scholarship, Caroline Hecht ‘19 for service, Stephanie Appiah ‘18 for leadership, and Scott Rolon ‘18 for character.
Next, Dean of Academics Dr. Tim Lance took the microphone to name the new inductees which included two graduating seniors and five juniors including Daniel Amandi Moreno ’18, Cole Neville ’18, Xuechun Iris Zhang ’19, Siyu Gloria Wang ’19, Xu Charles Cai ’19, Peiyu Margo Yang ’19, and Savannah Buon ’19. Each new inductee was asked to stand, then escorted to the stage by a current NHS member.
To conclude the ceremony, the new inductees were asked to raise their right hands and recite the NHS Pledge. In closing, Headmaster Jonathan Lamb thanked the students for all that they do to represent the characteristics of the NHS: “NHS is very active here at Storm King, and our members represent all of the ideals of the National Honor Society and our school.”