Leadership, service, and new ideas are coming to the BHS National Honors Society (NHS) board as four new members take on their roles. Keira Olson (President), Addyson Skipton (Vice President), Jordan Serlin (Secretary), and Greyson Scalzi (Treasurer) were recently elected as the newest members of the NHS board.
The selection process gave candidates the chance to showcase both their leadership and personality. After interviewing with current board members, each applicant created a video highlighting why they were the right fit for their desired role. These videos were shared at the March NHS meeting, allowing members to see each candidate in action before casting their votes for the next board.
“I had a lot of fun with it!” says Olson. “Making the video and talking to people while I was running was such a great time for me. I think it helped that I decided to just have a good time with it instead of making myself miserable and stressing too much about it.”
Olson shares that she was motivated to run for president because she saw it as “a really great leadership opportunity and a fun way to connect with and meet new people.” In her new role, she hopes to make NHS a more engaging experience by helping members connect and become active leaders in the community. To do this, she focuses on leading by example, explaining,“I will let my actions speak for me and just trying to be a good human that people want to listen to and follow.”
As Olson steps into the president role, Vice President Addyson Skipton will serve alongside her, taking on her leadership role with a focus on communication, “Communication is a huge part of my everyday life, and I think it’s a very important part of the job of vice president,” says Skipton. “I think I would do a great job making sure that all students understand the different parts of their role in the community.”
Similar to Olson, Skipton had a lot of fun with the election process, Skipton shares, “Gathering a bunch of different friends and teammates together to film clips was super funny and I was really proud of the final product.” As for the interview, Skipton mentioned that the current board members “were all wearing costumes and it made it really engaging and different from a normal interview.”
Looking ahead to her role as vice president, Skipton hopes to keep all students involved in the program, and make the meetings as productive and meaningful as possible.
Skipton describes her leadership style as “mostly hands on,” enjoying being involved with both the community and her school while she looks for constant feedback and new ways to improve. She is especially excited to “make NHS as fun as possible” by making meetings more interactive and having cool and all different kinds of events available to the members.
Like Skipton, Jordan Serlin approached the application process with creativity and enthusiasm as he prepared to take on the role of secretary; “the video was super fun as I thought of an idea that I love (college basketball and brackets) and tied it into the pillars of NHS and my friends and I had tons of fun making it.”
His love for leadership opportunities was what motivated him to run, “I like doing stuff in leadership roles and I thought it would be a good opportunity to do something like that. Also, I am most excited about working with the other board members and achieving our goals.” Along with gaining experience, Serlin hopes the role will help him become more confident in front of large crowds, which is an important part of NHS meetings.
Similar to the other board members, newly elected treasurer Greyson Scalzi knew he wanted his video to be humorous and have a unique style, “I had mentions of my favorite extracurricular activities that I found best qualified me for the position. I wanted to make sure that the message was delivered by the people who support me most, my friends and family.”
Beyond creating a fun and unique video, Scalzi found the entire interview application process to be a meaningful experience that allowed him to reflect on his goals and leadership styles. “The interview process was a great experience,” says Scalzi. He continues, “It was simple and to the point, but still a comfortable and informative conversation. I could see the compassion in the current officers and care they had about NHS.”
“I wanted to be in a position that allowed me to be representative of my peers and make change both in school and in the community,” says Scalzi.
Beyond representing his peers, Scalzi also wanted to challenge himself and make meaningful improvements to the NHS chapter, “I wish to better our NHS chapter in many different ways. Whether that be from financial management to available service hours, I see a chapter that is close knit and eager to serve our community. I would like for Berkley NHS to be a name known in the community for trust, reliability, and action.”
For all of the new board members, NHS is important to them. “I believe NHS is an amazing program for students to blossom and grow,” says Scalzi. “It’s a way that you can show your leadership skills and get recognized for it,” adds Serin. Olson adds that she enjoys “going out in the community and making an impact no matter how small it is,” while Skipton notes it’s “a really good way to connect with [her] peers and build good relationships within the community.”
With these four new leaders, Berkley’s NHS board is ready to bring creativity and dedication to the chapter. Each member is excited to serve, help their peers, and make a difference in the school and community.
