The National Honor Society, a high school service club, organizes projects throughout the year to impact the community both inside and outside of school.

More than 60 students are in the NHS, participating in different projects throughout the year. This year, there are 13 committees, each in charge of a different service project. Below are projects that the NHS has done so far in the 2015-2016 school year.

Math Tutoring

On Monday and Wednesday afternoons after school, the Math Tutoring Committee meets with middle school students to help them with math homework. The committee includes committee co-chairs juniors David Toda and Jeron Young, as well as members junior Ryan Lee, and sophomores Timmy Chang and Cameron Brewer. They meet in seventh grade math teacher Lorraine Chandler’s room from 3:00 p.m to 4:00 p.m, helping both seventh and eighth graders with their math homework. Through these sessions, the middle schoolers have seen much improvement in their grades.

Students Against Stress Committee

The Students Against Stress Committee welcomed back their high school classmates from fall break on October 16 by passing out Otter Pops and playing music during lunch. This committee, comprising of juniors Chandelle Takahashi, Samantha Nucum, Joy Young, Paige Oshiro, and Allison Trang, set up their table next to the snack bar to give out Otter Pops. According to the committee, through this project, they hoped to help raise morale on campus.

Feeding the Homeless

On Thursday November 12, the Feeding the Homeless Committee went to Kaka‘ako Waterfront Park to hand out sack lunches and bottled water to the homeless people there. In the sack lunches were peanut butter jelly sandwiches, fruit and granola bars. Because of the recent homeless sweeps conducted by city officials, there were fewer homeless families at the park. Junior Makenzie Cammack reflects, “Even after the sweeps, we didn’t have enough food to pass out.” Co-chair junior Sam Hixon says, “Interacting with people who have fallen on hard times and doing a little bit to help them makes the people serving feel compassionately towards those in need, and often makes the people serving feel a need to do this service more often.”

Math Challenge

On the morning of Saturday November 28, middle school students from across the island competed at the annual Math Challenge hosted by NHS’s Math Challenge Committee. HBA middle school students have been practicing since October to prepare for this competition. Competitors had to build geometric shapes, answer questions on various Math topics, and find clues for a scavenger hunt. The Math topics included geometry, probability, sets, and perimeter and area. Seniors Kayla Vergara and Anna Young led this project with senior Elissa Ota, junior Shalev Eckert, sophomores Zachary Fujita and Joshua Fujita. A number of NHS volunteers from other committees also helped proctor the tests that day, and they encouraged the participants to work hard and interact with students from the other schools during the friendly competition. The Math Challenge aimed to show students that Math can be fun, while encouraging teamwork and leadership skills. NHS adviser Lynne Nakano said that the Math Challenge Committee showed great leadership in organizing the event.

Wreath Sale

Later in the afternoon, on the same day as the Math Challenge, the NHS held its annual wreath sale, which was the club’s biggest fundraiser of the year. Wreaths were shipped from Oregon and cost $25 each. For each wreath sold, $7 was donated to Ho‘ola Na Pua, a Hawaii-based organization committed to helping underage female sex trafficking victims. This year’s committee was led by seniors Stephanie Dang and Keisha Ching, along with junior Ty Minatoya and sophomore Jalen Sur. Though they had fewer volunteers this year, the members worked efficiently. At the end of the sale, the committee raised $1,939.