A group of students who love science are now charter members of the Science National Honor Society at Brown County High School.
The group started this school year under the guidance of science teacher Matthew Williams. It joins Spanish, French and national honor societies at the high school.
Williams said the idea came from Assistant Superintendent Dennis Goldberg who saw it as a way to highlight students who are excelling in the sciences.
Students who were selected for the science honor society have not only shown success in science courses but also demonstrated interest in science, Williams said.
“They are the ones who stay after and ask questions because it’s interesting,” he said.
The charter group includes nine juniors and seniors. Some incoming juniors will be recruited next school year, SNHS member Elizabeth Jenson said.
“The group meets as one cohesive team, working to better their community with scientific endeavors,” Jenson said.
SNHS students in the “science outreach” team finished their first unit of study with junior high students a couple of weeks before the end of school. The team members discussed germination, plant cell structure and pollination with the younger students in four 30-minute lessons, Jenson said.
The lessons were a part of a community service requirement for SNHS.
“The student and teacher feedback was very positive and we’re considering continuing this next year,” Jenson said.
SNHS will continue to develop future semester or yearlong projects in which high school students help with a long experiment or do demonstrations, Williams said.
An “ecosystem development” team researched and developed plans for the high school’s courtyard, where the students will eventually create a “mini ecosystem” that will be studied and maintained by various science classes at the high school, Jenson said.
Students can become part of SNHS if they are recruited by current members or Williams.
“It’s kind of getting the buzz out about science being cool,” Williams said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”BCJHS Science National Honor Society charter members” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Juniors: Victoria Akles, Sarah Barrick, Elisabeth Huls, Lizzy Jenson, Monica Percifield, Austin Roush
Seniors: Kiara Unsworth, Alex Herner, Rachel Smith
[sc:pullout-text-end]