HOULTON, Maine — Three students from Greater Houlton Christian Academy were welcomed into an elite class Tuesday morning during the school’s eighth annual National Honor Society ceremony.
“These students have qualified by meeting a very high standard, set forth not only in scholarship but also in character, service and leadership,” Tom Zimmerman, headmaster for GHCA, said in welcoming students and family members to Tuesday’s enrollment ceremony. “Today, we want to recognize those qualities in three young people at Greater Houlton Christian Academy.”
Inducted into the group were Kenan Grant, the son of Mike and Talitha Grant of Lindsey, New Brunswick; Chloe Fekete, the daughter of Joy Emery of Crystal and Geza Fekete of Temple, New Brunswick; and Teagan Ewings, the daughter of Joe and Angie Ewings of Houlton.
Held at the First Baptist Church, the three new members were joined by four current members — Grace Graham, Bridget Hill, Alex Walker and Brendan Curran.
Dan Angotti, NHS adviser for the school, said he was looking forward to working with the new members of the group as they continue their pursuit of the four main cores of the NHS.
Gary Johnson served as the guest speaker for Tuesday’s ceremony. Johnson, who has served in various roles in Christian ministry for the past 50 years including music minister, senior pastor and executive director for the American Baptist Churches of Maine, was the speaker at GHCA’s inaugural induction back in 2011.
“I thank you for the privilege of talking with you this morning about a very important subject — the National Honor Society,” Johnson said. “I started thinking about how many societies there are in America set up to impact a certain portion of life. There are lots of societies in the Christian Church as well.”
Johnson challenged both the new and current members, as well as those students in the audience, to “put their hearts and souls” into their school work and also in their biblical studies.
“The effective leader is the one who has a high concern for everyone around them and a high concern for getting the job done,” he said.
The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) officially established NHS in 1921, according to the group’s official website. Though many local and regional honor societies existed prior to 1921, no nationwide organization had been founded. Under the leadership of Edward Rynearson, principal of the Fifth Avenue High School in Pittsburgh, the organization grew from the original Alpha Chapter at the Fifth Avenue School to more than 1,000 chapters by 1930. Equipped with a constitution, an emblem and motto, and a group of dedicated principals as coordinators, the new NHS organization quickly developed into one of the country’s leading educational groups.
Four main purposes have guided chapters of NHS from the beginning: to create enthusiasm for scholarship; to stimulate a desire to render service; to promote leadership; and to develop character in the students of secondary schools. These purposes also translate into the criteria used for membership selection in each local chapter.
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- Teagan Ewings lights a candle Tuesday morning during Greater Houlton Christian Academy’s National Honor Society induction ceremony at the First Baptist Church. (Joseph Cyr)
