Fifty junior and senior students from Allegany High School were inducted into membership of the National Honor Society (NHS) on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, in front of parents, staff, students, and guests. Honored guests included Superintendent of Allegany County Public Schools, Mr. Jeffrey Blank; Mrs. Crystal Bender, school board President; Mrs. Debra Frank, school board member; and Mrs. Tammy Fraley, school board member. Speakers included Mrs. Heidi Laupert, Allegany High School Principal, and Mr. Larry Jackson, Allegany High School’s Teacher of the Year. The ceremony was held in the theatre and was also observable via live-stream school-wide to the entire study body. The new members joined 33 current senior members who were inducted last year and have remained members in good standing. Conducting the school-wide ceremony were Eli Litman, President; Madison Ruhl, Vice President; Audrey Litman, Secretary/Historian; and Matthew Flanagan, Treasurer.

New members meeting high standards according to the pillars of the NHS of scholarship, service, leadership, and character were selected by a committee of faculty members following an extensive paperwork and verification process. Seniors inducted were Madison Poland and Ariaya Walker.

Juniors inducted were: Carli Atkinson, Emma Beckman, Abigail Britton, Gabriel Browning, Delayni Clark, Mia Dawson, Daniel Diehl, Gracie Doman, Nathan Ellsworth, Caden Ellsworth, Brooke Evans, Jacob Fraley, Riley Gallagher, Andrew Highland, Kylie Hook, Kinsey Hostetler, Sara LaBuda, MacKenzie Lambert, Allison Leatherman, Rebecca Lee, Hong Lin, Daniel Ly, Riley McCutcheon, Ada McFarland, Zachary Michael, Kamryn O'Neal, Nathan Peterson, Skyler Porter, Blake Powell, Riley Pringle, Daniel Reed, Harrison Reid, Peyton Ritchie, Morgan Ruggles, Colin Sheehe, Josef Sneathen, Nevaeh Snoberger, Shylah Taylor, Morgan Trautwein, Kylie Uhl, Macey Wagoner, Avery Wallace, Caedon Wallace, Levi Wiseman, Sam Wu, and Alanah Zeunges.

Foreign exchange students inducted as honorary members were Sandra Cestaro who is from Italy, and Iris Montilla who is from Spain.

Two-year senior members inducted last year and who have remained members in good standing are as follows: Dean Arnold, Clay Brode, Madison Cage, Camee Duckworth, Cole Fiscus, Matthew Flanagan, Tessa Gibson-Thoele, Daniel Gregory, Abigail Grove, Bailee Haislip, Charles Imes, Makenna Keith, Alexander Kennell, Ayden Leith, Audrey Litman, Eli Litman, Olivia Looker, Arianna Lopez, Matthew Lowery, Griffin Madden, Peyton McDonald, Chase McKenzie, Jonathan Nelson, Marissa Parker, Samantha Preaskorn, Zoey Rhodes, Savannah Roach, Madison Ruhl, Lya Smith, Anika Stylinski, Charlotte Taylor, Andrew Watkins, and Alyssa Yost.

Mrs. Laupert and Mr. Jackson congratulated students and challenged them to continue to achieve while keeping in mind the four pillars of the NHS. Jackson, who recently retired after a long and distinguished career, asked students to lead by example and to serve their community with pride so that they may help others . The Faculty Council at Allegany High School includes co-advisors Dr. Lori Brown and Dr. Kay Sheehe, along with James Bucy, Betsy Geiger, Kevin Wallace, and Desiree Witt.

The National Honor Society ranks as one of the oldest and most prestigious national organizations for high school students. Chapters exist in three-fourths of the nation’s high schools and, since 1921, millions of students have been selected for membership. The Allegany High School Chapter, now in its 69th year, originated in 1954. Each participating chapter develops bylaws which must be approved by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).