In order to consolidate the process of logging service hours, NHS at Berkley will be using a new website, my.innerview.org. For many years, the Berkley National Honors Society (NHS) has logged their community service hours through a Google form. This task was complicated for some because it was sometimes hard to find the link to this form. It was also challenging to select your name on the spreadsheet because there are hundreds of names of NHS members. In the past, you had to have six Berkley community service hours and six community hours (outside of Berkley). Each meeting once a month was also mandatory.
The way NHS logs service hours isn’t the only thing that has changed this year. There is a whole new board and new instructors, Ms. Farr and Ms. Belsky, who decided to allow the students to use the new website. With this website, some students feel they can keep track of their hours more easily. All they have to do is log in, press the blue plus button, explain what they did and how many hours they volunteered for, and finally submit a picture of themselves volunteering. In each student’s profile, they are able to see how many hours they have very easily. Another aspect of the website that students like is that it offers volunteer opportunities and ideas! The website also shares student’s economic impact from their amount of work. It also allows them to set goals for themselves!
President of NHS senior Penelope Cohen shares why she loves this new addition to NHS. “I love the new website because it consolidates everything you need into one platform. It is so much easier to find volunteer opportunities, and I think it is so fun that you have to take pictures while volunteering. It’s a nice memory of volunteering”. NHS also got rid of six Berkley hours and six community service hours and now it’s just 12 volunteer hours. Cohen shares that this new way makes it easier for everyone to get their hours in. Cohen shares that another new feature this year is that you get 30 minutes of hours every meeting! They added this because “it is important to come, to know what’s going on, and to be a part of the community” Cohen states. Cohen is excited for this year of NHS and feels with the new technology it will be even better than the last.
Similar to Cohen, Ms. Farr, NHS advisor and BHS English teacher, states how excited she is about this new website. “I love it! When I found out about the new website from other advisors, and it seemed like a no brainer”. Ms. Farr explains that so far it’s been great because members just have one place to post everything, sign up for volunteer opportunities, and track hours.
Ms. Farr’s favorite part of the website is the opportunity to see pictures of what the kids are doing. “I didn’t even know some of the services they were doing, and now it is nice to see pictures and get more description of students’ work”. She explains that the reason she switched to just 12 hours in general and not six BHS and six community is because “students were doing so much service as it was and splitting it up was just more difficult. I know that NHS members are busy with clubs and AP classes so adding on extra service just because you didn’t have enough BHS hours was strange. Community service is community service”!