The Tappan Zee High School National Honor Society has partnered up with the South Orangetown Middle School National Junior Honor Society to speak with eighth grade members as they prepare for the transition to high school.
NHS advisors Nicole Farish and Nicole Lai spoke with NJHS advisors Kerry Beckmann and Eric Goldstein about hosting joint meetings earlier this year. In March, NHS members visited SOMS to speak with students about what they should expect as rising ninth graders and this week, NJHS members learned about the wide variety of clubs and co-curricular activities that are available to students at TZHS. “When the NHS advisors reached out about the possibility of their members speaking to our NJHS members, Eric Goldstein and I both thought it was a great idea. The opportunity for our members to have information shared from the perspective of another student – most of whom were also NJHS members when they were at SOMS, seemed like something that would be very appealing and relevant,” said NJHS Advisor and SOMS Technology teacher Kerry Beckmann.
Current members of TZHS sports teams, foreign language clubs, art and music clubs, STEM-based clubs and community service-based clubs spoke with small groups of SOMS students to discuss what types of activities they do during their meetings as well as events that they host throughout the year. TZHS students also encouraged current NJHS members to join the National Honor Society when they are eligible as juniors along with the other academic honor societies that are offered.
As NJHS and NHS advisors and members continue to collaborate, the ultimate goal is to have rising seniors connect with the incoming ninth graders to be a familiar face and to help guide them as they begin high school. Beckmann noted, “Our NJHS members were very appreciative of the information being shared and also very comfortable asking questions to the NHS members who they seemed to really connect with. This is definitely a very valuable experience and something we look to continue with in the future.”
