Four new National Honors Society (NHS) officers were recently elected at the March General Meeting. The new President is Violet Karp, the Vice President is Emily Castone, the Secretary is Shoshana Loomer, and the Treasurer is Samuel George. These new officers all were chosen by current NHS members in a very close election. I interviewed all of them to find out more about why they ran, what they will bring to the NHS, and what the campaigning process was like for them.

Starting with Violet Karp, the 2024-2025 NHS President, I first asked her why she decided to run for this position. She explains that this role would be a great opportunity for her because she likes taking leadership positions. For example, she is already a Managing Editor of The Spectator and a Captain of the BHS Dance Team. She says that these positions helped her learn how to, “manage my stress when issues and overloads of work come my way, and they taught me how to work with others in a kind and efficient way.” She also explains that she likes the NHS because “it motivates [her] to volunteer more” and she admires the organization’s goals. I then asked her what qualities she has that will make her a great president. “I am outgoing and love speaking in front of large groups of people. I am organized and like feeling busy,” she explains. When making her video that played during the election, she wanted to include an aspect of humor to make it entertaining, a description of her qualifications, and a promise to provide donuts at the first general meeting of the following year if she won. Her video featured her acting as though she were already the president and her friends explained why she won. Besides just making a video, Karp also made pink posters focusing on her promise of donuts which she posted around BHS. She also says, “I wrote on whiteboards and announced to students of the classes I am in that I am running and I hope that I have their vote.” Karp was extremely nervous because she knew her competitors, Shira Mendelson and Je’da Kyles, also had a good chance of winning. Though it was very close, Karp was victorious, jumping up and dancing and screaming when her name was called.

New Vice President, Emily Castone, also had previous leadership experience which caused her to want to run as well as how she enjoys “meeting new people and working with them”. She was previously on the Norup K-5 committee and enjoyed working with kids and planning events and hopes to continue doing that as the vice president. She also is a part of BHS student leadership where she plans school events and fundraisers. Along with other positions, student leadership encouraged Castone to be organized, “articulate [her] words, speak, and delegate work.” She is also a great team player and loves working with others. When it came to making her campaign video, she was struggling to come up with what to put in it as she had “no experience with filmmaking”. Castone talked with past officers to see what she should include and decided she wanted to make it happy, uplifting, and engaging. She also filmed her video with her friends which helped her have fun and make it the best she could. Castone says, in reference to what she will bring to the NHS, “I can bring new ideas and make it more efficient and easier to be in the NHS,” as well as, “I want to offer more volunteer opportunities and impact more people outside of Berkley and Huntington Woods.” During the election she was very scared and was embarrassed when her video came on the screen because she knew everyone was judging it. She was in shock and excited when she won but simultaneously felt sad for the other candidates she beat. She was also very supportive of the other candidates, gaining motivation “to work hard to serve the people and the people [she] beat to make them proud.”

Shoshana Loomer, the upcoming 2024-2025 NHS Secretary ran for this position because of her previous experience of being the secretary for the BHS Environmental Club for three years and having a leadership role in Students Demand Action. She is excited to be an officer because she likes keeping everything in order and appreciates “how much volunteering there is and the community built around that,” in NHS. Loomer is a very organized person and likes things to be “meticulous and done properly” as well as being a “good leader and listening to what others want”, which is why she will make a great NHS officer. When making her campaign video, she “didn’t want it to be boring and wanted creativity and entertainment at seven in the morning,” while also including aspects from her life. She chose to make her video “Mean Girls” themed as one of her favorite movies. Her process was pretty simple: choosing a scene from the movie, gathering people to be in it, making scripts, filming, and finally editing it. Besides making her video, Loomer handed out Tootsie Roll Pops and handed them out right before the election. Loomer said she was very nervous because she knew the strengths of her competitors and knew that it was anyone’s game. Loomer will bring many “new ideas and ways of taking action and bringing the group together”.

Lastly is Samuel George, future Treasurer. He chose to run because he wanted to make a bigger impact than he was as a social studies committee leader. He likes the organization, schedule, and efficiency that the NHS has implemented and believes that he can bring more opportunities for members and volunteers. George will make a great Treasurer because he has a great attitude, is a forward thinker, and is good with handling money. He also has had previous experience with managing money from being the Treasurer of the BHS Environmental Club for three years. Along with this, he also started his own club, the BHS Financial Club where his goal was “to expand financial literacy.” Lastly, he is a captain at the Detroit Zoo at a youth group where he says, “I train younger volunteers and help organize the program.” These three positions helped him discover that “being able to communicate ideas with a group was nice,” and, “making concrete goals is interesting,” which led to him wanting to take those things into a larger leadership role. When he was making his video he started with “establishing what [he] wanted to convey,” which entailed him writing out his main message on a piece of paper that he ended up using to plan out the whole video. He made a script and planned everything out but felt that something was missing. He went on Instagram for some inspiration where he found someone telling a story with Subway surfers and Rocket League gameplay below. He added this aspect to keep viewers engaged. When asked what was going through his mind during the election, he responded “I just wanted some grapes,” to which I appreciate the honesty.

As we move into the end of this school year and onto the 2024-2025 school year, I think I speak for all of the NHS when I say, we are excited for the four new officers to take leadership.