National Technical Honor Society expands at Meramec
By: KATELYN ERICSON
Staff Writer
At the start of its second year at STLCC-Meramec, the National Technical Honor Society has doubled in size and is preparing to organize its first community service project of the year.
Since it began in spring 2015, the Meramec NTHS club has grown from 10 to 23 members NTHS Academic Advisor Diana Johnson said. New members from all STLCC campuses will be inducted in November at Forest Park, although the date has not been finalized yet.
“I believe club membership has increased due to my efforts of promoting the club through emails and visiting a number of CTE classrooms,” said Johnson.
NTHS is for students enrolled in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.
According to their website, NTHS has been recognizing “outstanding student achievement in career and technical education” for more than 30 years. As stated on their website, part of NTHS’s mission is promoting educational excellence and enhancing members’ career opportunities.
“I hope that my participation in NTHS will help me to demonstrate my conscientiousness, initiative, and ability to work effectively as part of a team,” president of Meramec’s NTHS branch Keeandra Archambault said.
This is her first club leadership position, although in the past she has been a member of high school and college clubs, Archambault said. She is pursuing an Associates of Applied Science in Horticulture.
On Sept. 16, the club’s leadership positions were filled. In addition to Archambault, Shawna
Glynn will act as vice president, Anne Scammon as secretary and Steven Geiger as treasurer for the 2015-2016 school year.
NTHS gets students involved within their community, builds their skills and gives them experience networking with others to prepare for their career. It’s a great resume builder, Johnson said.
“NTHS can prepare anyone for their career because we encourage the pursuit of higher education and cultivate excellence in today’s world. I want to see us build strong relationships between NTHS and the business world,” Treasurer Steven Geiger said.
Not sweating the small stuff will cause NTHS members to operate most effectively, Archambault said.
“I hope that I can help members to remember that the National Technical Honor Society exists to recognize their excellence, create opportunities for them [to] show off their skills and to help them succeed in whatever it is they want to do,” Archambault said. “I would like for our members to gain a strengthened sense of social effectiveness and to develop positive relationships with members of our community.”
To show different organizations in our society how important they are and to let them know how much they mean to the community is the kind of activities the branch would like to engage in, Geiger said.
At the next meeting, members will choose the club’s fall community service project, Johnson said. Students are voting on the type of project through an online poll created by Archambault. As of Oct. 6, the top three choices are collecting items for a local organization, volunteering at a local organization and assembling military care packages.
“I am hoping that we will have gotten all of our votes in by Oct. 17, when we will be having our district-wide NTHS planning meeting,” Archambaul said.
NTHS offers NTHS clubs, or chapters, the opportunity to win the Silver Star of Excellence Community Service Award. The award is given to the NTHS chapter that recognizes a need in its community and then takes the steps to meet the need, according to their website. NTHS evaluates the project by its creativity, quality, NTHS membership involvement and its impact on the community.
Winning this award is a main goal, Johnson said.
“Our main goal is to get involved and help service our community,” said Johnson.
By coming together as an organization and putting in the hours and the hard dedication students can earn this award, Johnson said.
“I believe our NTHS students will win the Silver Star of Excellence Community award because we have a perfect combination of our highest achievers and leaders of the Career and Technical Education programs here on campus. Our members are chosen because of hard work and dedication to
their program of study,” Johnson said.
At the start of each semester, eligible students receive an email invitation to join NTHS, Johnson said. Qualifications are a 3.5 cumulative GPA and six completed credit hours in the student’s Career and Technical Education program.
For questions about NTHS, contact Diana Johnson at 314-984-7586, djohnson581@stlcc.edu or at BA 123F
