Wadena-Deer Creek High School's National Honor Society (NHS) held its induction ceremony and reception, Oct. 2 where 10 new students were inducted.
Those new members included seniors Katlyn Heaton and Tabitha Janke-Gregory; and juniors Ashley Adams, Wyatt Hamann, Kylee Hopp, Elissa Ikola, Sophia Kreklau, Samantha Malone, Abigail Motschenbacher and MacKenzie Salge.
The ceremony featured a traditional candle-lighting ceremony and a formal program. NHS seniors Ryan Grendahl, Bel Snyder, Ellie Miron and Abby Westrum spoke on the four pillars of NHS - scholarship, leadership, service, and character.
Principal Tyler Church presented awards to the new inductees and also shared his congratulations to the students and their families.
"It is an honor to welcome this group into WDC's National Honor Society. The positive character and willingness to help others demonstrated by these students is a big reason WDC is such a great place to be," Church said.
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According to Dawn Hamelau, who is in her fourth year as NHS advisor, the Wadena-Deer Creek NHS chapter is very selective when choosing which students are inducted into the organization.
"In order to qualify for membership, a student must be a junior or senior who embodies the qualities of character, leadership, scholarship, and service. Students must have a GPA of 3.5 and demonstrate good attendance, involvement in co-curricular activities, and leadership experience," Hamelau said.
Students must also average 50 or more verified hours of community service for each year of high school and submit three letters of recommendation. Applications for membership are reviewed by a panel of WDC teachers and administrators.
New members will join returning seniors Emily Benson, Jordan Brink, Mason Evans, Kirstan Finn, Henry Fitzsimmons, Ryan Grendahl, Alex Kahl, Lila Lohmiller, Tiffany Meeks, Ellie Miron, Thomas Quincer, Noah Ross, Kate Schmidt, Bel Snyder, Casey Volkmann, Preston Warren and Abby Westrum, to complete a wide variety of community-service projects.
Yearly projects that are led and organized by NHS members include blood drives, a charity phone-a-thon, Day of Caring, Adopt-A-Highway, as well as a variety of other community-service projects.
"Congratulations to all of the new National Honor Society members. We look forward to a wonderful year of service, fun, and learning," said Hamelau.
