Letter: Many came together to make NHS event memorable
Published: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 9:06 AM EST
To the Editor:

I recently had the privilege of serving on the planning committee for the National Honor Society induction ceremony at Worthington Kilbourne High School. The ceremony was held on Nov. 6 in the school's auditorium. One hundred twenty-nine highly deserving WKHS juniors and seniors were inducted into the Arnold Skidmore Chapter of NHS during a very dignified, meaningful ceremony.

Those in attendance were entertained by the musical talents of the following WKHS musicians: Ben Neiger, pianist; and Ryhan Hassan, Maria Comas, David Liu and Brittany Crossan, string quartet. Mr. David Freel, executive director of the Ohio Ethics Commission, delivered an inspiring keynote address.

Several WKHS staff members deserve recognition for their enthusiastic support of the program and for their contributions that evening: Kevin Johnson, assistant principal; Kristy Smith, counselor and NHS adviser; Mary Lou Himmel, teacher and NHS adviser; Kevin Fish, auditorium assistant; Richard Witt, auditorium manager; and the five staff members who served on the selection committee.

The WKHS PTO, under the direction of President Barb Mounts, offered invaluable assistance. Thanks go out to Leslie Meena and Cathi Parsons for providing a lovely reception for the inductees and their families after the program.

Since NHS was not a recognized program in the district last year, senior class members were not available to help. To fill that void, the planning committee invited WKHS alumni to share readings and assist with the tapping portion of the ceremony. The following young adults happily agreed to return to their alma mater to participate: Danny Ecker and Scott Haldeman (NHS members, Class of 2004); Mike DiBartola (NHS member, Class of 2005); Alyse Schwartz, Kelsey Straker, Kevin Sutton and Michael Vandewalle (NHS members, Class of 2006); Greg Busch and Jackie McCammon (NHS members, Class of 2007); and Alex DiBartola, Philip Bunting, Joshua Jones and Kara Stull (NHS members, Class of 2008).

Finally, grateful acknowledgement goes out to the members of the NHS Reinstatement Committee. These individuals worked tirelessly throughout last year defending the merits of National Honor Society for our district. Their focus was to look at creative solutions designed to repair the program, rather than abandon it altogether. They gave countless hours of volunteer time gathering data, researching NHS programs at other schools locally and nationally, consulting with advisors at the NHS national headquarters, meeting with district personnel and presenting arguments to the Worthington Board of Education.

Accolades go to Patty and Tom Vandewalle, Linda and Steve Bosserman, Jenny and Marty Gottesman, Laura and Harvey Schwartz, Mary and Chris Wible, Kathy and Ron Green, Kim Kochert, Eva Rhode, Jeff Swick, Barb Mounts, Deirdre Donovan, Diane Cellentani, Rita Atkinson, Krista Suffron and Nina Kowalczyk.

Through their efforts, this time-honored program has been given new life at WKHS.

Laurel Straker