Reflections by Hodgdon’s president

By Kimberly Levesque
Hodgdon NHS President
    HOGDON — National Honor Society is not about being overly intelligent or having the best grades in school; it’s about being a better person, being versatile, and reaching out to the community.
    Our group is very diverse and we all excel in one way or another. To be an NHS member you must excel four specific things; character, scholarship, leadership, and service. We all do just this and represent our school and community everyday.
    Our group leaders are myself; Erik Ryan, vice president; Kayla Harris, secretary; and Britta Oliver, treasurer. Our group also includes, Quinn Harris, Kaitlynne Dorr, Coreen Jurson, Nicholas Lunn, Jennah Steamer, Mariah Wiley, Macy Palmer, Courtney Jurson, Tyler Sherman, Alica Rockwell, Mackenzie York, Joshua Hudson, Valerie Estabrook, and Alyson McGuillicudy. We do our best to give back to those who support us throughout the year and have made our mark on our community.
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
HODGDON MEMBERS — Hodgdon High School inducted nine new members into its ranks May 15. Current and new members are, front from left, Erik Ryan (vice president), Kaitlynne Dorr, Kimberly Levesque (president), Kayla Harris (secretary), Britta Oliver (treasurer), Courtney Jurson and Quinn Harris; and back, Mariah Wiley (incoming secretary), Mackenzie York, Alica Rockwell, Tyler Sherman, Joshua Hudson, Nick Lunn (incoming treasurer), Jennah Steamer, Courtney Jurson, Alyson McGillicuddy (incoming president), Macy Palmer, Valerie Estabrook (incoming vice president).
    Throughout the year, we participate in many activities and projects to raise money for certain organizations, give to those in need, and just to say thank you to people who work hard everyday to make our community a better place. Annually we participate in a blood drive that is hosted at our school in support the Red Cross. Through this project, we see many other students come out of the woodwork and step up to do their part. Together we not only help our community, but make others want to as well. 
    Every year we also participate in pie baking for local nursing homes and long-term care patients at Houlton Regional Hospital. Through this we become a team and make almost 50 pies of various flavors in one school day. We then personally deliver the pies to their destinations where we are greeted with smiles and appreciation.
    Not only do we reach out in the community, but give back to our school as well. This year we recognized our teachers and student leaders within our school. Student Appreciation week was the week of May 7. To show our appreciation we made a bulletin board that listed the student’s names as well as all of the leadership positions and clubs they are in that are so important to our school and our student body. These leadership positions range from class officers to varsity team captains and everything in between, such as student focus group. We also decided to throw a ice cream sundae party for the students to stretch our appreciation even further. Teacher Appreciation week was the week of May 7. Teachers are what get us through the day and without them we would not be the students that we are. To thank these wonderful people for what they do we gave them a dessert buffet and a gift of a travel mug.
    One of our biggest projects, and my favorite, this year was our school-wide Operation Christmas Child project. In order to take part in this, we had all the advisories participate by filling a shoe box with every day items (wash cloths, soap, etc.), toys, crayons, books, and stuffed animals and a letter. We then wrapped these shoe boxes like presents and shipped them worldwide, where young children in need would have presents for Christmas.
    As you can see National Honors Society is much more than academics, though they are important. We do not sit around in our meetings discussing intellectual topics or using words that no one could understand, but rather we are constantly brainstorming new ideas to show people we care. It’s not about the recognition or thank you’s we receive, but the simple thought of knowing we have helped our community and showed people we care. We are proud of our members for stepping up and doing all that they do and we always are excited to give back to those who are constantly supporting us. We can only improve and that we hope to do in order to make our community even better.