In a packed Arganbright Auditorium, 181 new inductees to the West High Chapter of the National Honor Society were celebrated among returning seniors on Feb. 11. New members received a certificate, a membership pin and words of wisdom from senior student speakers Layan Ahmed and Eli Maze. 

Both new and returning members meet what NHS considers as their four pillars which include scholarship, service, leadership and character. Additionally, students were required to meet specific standards developed by West. This includes the completion of three years of math, three years of language arts, three years of science and a minimum of two years of a foreign language. 

However, current juniors were the first class inducted who needed to meet the new cumulative GPA and volunteer hour requirements since the West High administration altered them at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year.

Current seniors who were inducted last year will not have their status changed and any student joining their senior year will have the same requirements as their respective class. 

“The National Honor Society is about leadership and then having great academic standards along with this component of service [and] we kind of wanted to add in that volunteer piece,” said Shannon Arkfeld, a West High guidance counselor and the sponsor for NHS. “The decision was made by [West] administration, the principal was involved in the decision [and] we have a committee. We talked about not just making everyone change real quickly, so we’re doing it gradually over the course of three years.”

Because of this year’s change, the students inducted on Feb. 11 will have until March 26 to submit their volunteer hours. All volunteer hours are submitted through West High’s Silver Cord program.

The change from a 3.50 GPA to an eventual 3.75 GPA for the class of 2028 and beyond comes as university admission requirements change in response to weighted grades.

“We also wanted to fall in line with the University of Iowa and some of their admission requirements when it comes to GPA,” Arkfeld said. “As [students] are taking more honors level courses, AP courses [and] dual credit courses, the university is seeing that their minimum GPA for admissions is going up because students will come in with a GPA over a 4.0. The traditional scale of a 4.0 has changed over the years and so we are also changing with that.”

Although West’s requirements are changing, students will have the same opportunities as past inductees. Students can apply for scholarships on the NHS website. Additionally, the NHS recognition can set students apart from their peers when applying for colleges.