After much discussion, the officers and advisors of South’s National Honor Society have come to a decision regarding moving forward in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

In an email sent to all NHS seniors, faculty advisor Megan Parmenter announced that all membership requirements, including service hours and meeting attendance, would be waived.

“We recognize that all members on our current roster have been active this year and would have completed the membership requirements if given the opportunity to do so.  Therefore, all Bloomington South National Honor Society members in the Class of 2020 will be awarded the gold honor cords without any further participation,” Parmenter said.

Despite the fact that membership requirements are waived, there are still ways that NHS seniors can make an impact in their communities. Parmenter outlined some methods of doing so, including tutoring siblings, making masks, donating blood, or recording a reading of a children’s book to be posted on NHS social media. 

NHS senior Christian Battista is satisfied with the outcome of this decision.

“I think it’s good that we got [the service hour requirements] waived because there would be no real way to get our hours, but I do think encouraging us to do [other service methods] is good to help build a continued future of service”

Although the news may seem grim for juniors (their induction ceremony is postponed), they aren’t too worried about what will happen with their overall experience in the coming school year.

“I feel like our NHS class will try to stay consistent with what previous classes have been doing, but there will probably be some loopholes we’ll have to figure out next year…I feel like NHS will be able to, for the most part, run smoothly next year,” said NHS junior Elenna Kim. 

More information regarding senior honor cord distribution and special awards will come later.