N.H.S.

Joycie was informed yesterday that she's now a member of the National Honor Society. There will be a formal induction ceremony soon. Like Joycie, there were a few other members of the junior class that made it in. I'm so proud of her!

Back when I was a junior in high school (at the same high school Joycie's at), oh... back in 1977, I also made the NHS in my junior year. But back then, it was like basically if you had a high g.p.a., then you were in. Nowadays, at our high school, you get invited to fill out a resume, which is then reviewed by an appointed Faculty Council. They look at more than just your g.p.a. (which must be at least 3.5), and they really look at your volunteer hours. And now that Joycie is in the NHS, she has to log in 20 required volunteer hours (approved -- you can't just say, oh I helped my aunt clean out her attic... it has to be a whole lot more official than that). I think it's great. Good experience. Joycie hasn't volunteered much so far during her high school years, but then, she has always played 3 sports, was in band, took guitar lessons and had the odd babysitting jobs. All that plus homework, social stuff & chores at home... well, she's been pretty busy.

Next year, in her senior year, she's not planning to play any sport except Spring soccer (though she'll probably play rec soccer, indoor winter). She's looking at volunteer opportunities now. There was one in our local paper about helping out at a horse ranch with disabled children. She wants to check on that, not because she's very good at knowing how to help disabled kids, but she'd like to try, and of course, because she loves horses.

She'll still be busy in her senior year because she's planning to have something similar to a co-op position, in that she'll be assisting a 4th grade teacher in our district for either the morning or afternoon, at least for the 1st semester, then she's hoping to assist a 3rd grade teacher. The difference between what Joycie's planning to do and a typical co-op job is that Joyce won't get paid. It will be well worth the experience for her, though. The two teachers were both Sammy's, and they would give her excellent examples to follow... both of them are wonderful teachers.

I still have trouble with the realization that my baby girl will be a senior next year. She likes to remind me that she'll be 18 years old this November, just to watch me flinch.