2019 Winners

The National Honor Society (NHS) is proud to recognize the following recipients of the 2019 Outstanding Service Project awards.

	Seniors Empowering Juniors and Seniors Maine West High School Des Plaines, IL Adviser: Jane Wisdom After conducting different activities within the community, such as teaching a tech class to senior scientists at Argonne National Laboratory or performing poetry, chapter members realized that as high school seniors, they could bring these activities to disadvantaged local audiences and empower others and promote equity by providing these channels and giving access to new platforms. Through a two-part project, Seniors Empowering Juniors and Seniors, NHS seniors at Maine West High School created the curriculum and taught tech class to senior citizens at senior citizen centers, while others designed and taught poetry classes to younger English Language Learner students.
	Bald for Bucks Niagara Wheatfield High School Sanborn, NY Adviser: Beth Pyskaty The Niagara Wheatfield NHS chapter organized an event to support Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Having lost their assistant principal—an integral part of the NW community—they decided to contribute to the fight against cancer. Thanks to the hundreds of students, staff, and community members who supported this endeavor, the “Bald for Bucks” event raised over $10,000 which went directly into cancer research and patient care programs. At the culminating event, participants had their heads shaved during the halftime of a Sabres alumni basketball game.
	Hitting Back at Harvey Gilbert High School Gilbert, AZ Adviser: Chrisa Floria In the 2017–18 school year, the NHS chapter of Gilbert High School in Gilbert, AZ, chose to focus their year’s main service project on providing aid to the people affected by Hurricane Harvey. The club’s officers and sponsor were able to meet several times during the beginning of the year to organize a collection of spare change in classrooms for one week and at one varsity football game, which they called “Hitting Back at Harvey.” As people volunteered to collect money in the stands at the football game, the chapter saw many pockets being emptied of change and collection containers being filled. After counting bills and rolling change, the officers and sponsor concluded that the school raised about $2,500 for Hurricane Harvey relief funds.
	Donating Hope: Helping Survivors of Domestic Abuse Willow Bend Academy Plano, TX Adviser: Laura Doi Approximately 20 people per minute in the United States are physically abused by an intimate partner, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Perhaps even more devastating, 66 percent of those injured by their partners do not receive medical care for these injuries. Hope’s Door works tirelessly for victims of domestic violence, providing a 24-hour crisis line, emergency shelter, legal advocacy, and extensive counseling. Willow Bend Academy’s NHS chapter rallied the student body to help Hope’s Door by collecting 1,143 items from their wish list. The chapter then delivered the items and spent a day volunteering at the organization’s resale store.
	Pennies for Patients/Hero Squads Southern Lehigh High School Center Valley, PA Adviser: Lynne Kelly The NHS students of Southern Lehigh High School held a fundraising campaign for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society called Pennies for Patients, with funds going toward research for blood cancer patients. NHS members created their own hero squads consisting of 10 students and one teacher. Each squad then competed against each other to try and raise $10,000. Each squad got to participate in a fun event during a pep rally depending on how much money they raised. Squads then put together “hero bags” full of goodies that were delivered to the children’s cancer center at the local hospital.