Who is eligible to apply for membership in NHS?

Students who have completed the first semester of their junior year with a cumulative grade point average of 3.7 or above will be sent a letter inviting them to apply for membership in NHS. Students who have violated school board policy JJC (typically an alcohol or drug abuse conviction) within the prior 18 months will not be invited to apply. Students in this situation are automatically denied membership so it has been deemed unnecessary to have them apply. If their record is expunged before the end of the first semester of their senior year, they will be invited to apply for membership at a later date.

When do students apply for membership?

Eligible students will be sent a letter inviting them to apply for membership in February of their junior year. Students who achieve the 3.7 cumulative grade point average following their junior year will be invited to apply the summer following their junior year. If students achieve the minimum GPA after the first semester of their senior year they will be invited to apply for membership at that time. STUDENTS APPLYING FOR MEMBERSHIP FOLLOWING THE FIRST SEMESTER OF THEIR SENIOR YEAR HAVE THE ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT OF 20 DOCUMENTED SERVICE HOURS COMPLETED AFTER THEIR JUNIOR YEAR. The reasoning behind this requirement is that 30 individual service hours are required of all NHS members and students who don't begin membership until February of their senior year would have a very difficult time fulfilling this requirement prior to May 1st of their senior year. We don't want to induct students into NHS then set almost unachievable requirements for them to maintain their membership. If a student believes they are close to achieving the minimum GPA following first semester of their senior year and would like more information on fulfilling 20 service hours on their own, the NHS advisor is very willing to work with them regarding this.

Why was my child denied membership in NHS and what can I do about it?

The most common reasons students are denied membership in NHS are:

• alcohol or drug violations

• incidences of academic dishonesty such as cheating or plagiarism

• insubordination offenses with teachers resulting in a bad character assessment

If you want to discuss the nonselection of your student, the first person to contact is the NHS Advisor. While they have no vote in the selection process, they might be able to make clear to you the reasons for the nonselection. If you are dissatisfied with the answers you receive from the advisor, the next person to contact is the principal. He is familiar with the processes involved in NHS membership selection and the reasons for nonselection.

What does it mean if my student is put on probation?

Once students are members of NHS they have more rights. Offenses that may have prevented membership before will now result in probation instead. Once an NHS member is put on probation, they must not have any further offenses. If no further offenses occur they will not lose their membership in NHS. If a second offense occurs, their membership will be terminated. Students will have the right to appeal this termination to the NHS Advisory Council. Examples of offenses that result in probation are cumulative GPA falling below 3.7, alcohol offenses, and minor academic dishonesty incidences. Any gross offenses will result in immediate termination of the students membership in NHS without going through the probation stage. Students will still have the right to a termination hearing with the NHS Advisory Council.

What is the difference between individual service hours and group projects?

NHS members are required to participate in 9-10 group service projects. If a student is unable to participate they will have to complete additional individual service hours to make up for the absence. In addition, each member is required to complete 30 individual service hours. These are hours of community service done on their own time, documented, and submitted to the secretary of NHS. Students often ask what qualifies as community service. The general guideline is that these hours would benefit the community in some way and the student must not receive compensation for their time.

What is "expunged"?

A: Expunged is a process destroying or sealing the records of a criminal conviction. This includes records in files, on computer, or in any other depositories.

What does this mean in terms of NHS? If a student does not get into any further trouble, eighteen months after the student is adjudicated for committing an offense their record at Brookings High School will be wiped clean. Consequently, their name would not be flagged on the list of junior students achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.7.