[ot-caption title=”Mr. Gillego speaks about the importance of character at the NEHS induction ceremony on Wednesday, October 28th, 2015.  (via Alex Lee, senior)”]  

On Wednesday October 28th, the National English Honor Society (NEHS) had its annual induction, with over sixty juniors and seniors inducted into the prestigious society. These students showed exemplary performance in English the previous year and were recommended by their English teachers. They also had to fill out an application to become a member, which included a question about their favorite literary character. The theme of the ceremony was “character,” both in real life and in literature. The responses about each member’s favorite literary character were made into a slideshow that played throughout the ceremony. The club sponsor, Mr. Gillego, gave a short introduction speech about character and then NEHS president, senior Ian Schneider, spoke to the inductees. They both talked about the importance of character in our daily lives, as well as upcoming events for NEHS members and the role of NEHS in the community. When asked about NEHS, Mr. Gillego said, “NEHS isn’t just an honor society; it is an active co-curricular organization that provides a variety of programming for its membership.”

Some anticipated events this year include a trip to the Miami Book Fair to see United States Congressman John Lewis speak, the annual School Duel, a trip to see West Side Story, and Pine Crest’s very own TED X talk. President Ian Schneider is very excited for the upcoming year, and said, “The NEHS induction was very successful. We outlined our plans for the year. As for trips that are going on, we plan to gather the NEHS community together at each event. I’m looking forward to the TEDX PC, so students can share some of their passions.”

Last year, the TED X talk was a PC favorite across campus.  The TED X talk was fully orchestrated by students in NEHS.  TED X PC brought in professionals with stories to tell about their journeys, and also had segments where Pine Crest students presented speeches on inquiry.  This spectacular event will occur again in April, but until then, a current NEHS event is the School Duel, where students from across the county participate in a trivia quiz show.  Prospective members of the team went through a rigorous tryout process so that the four most qualified members could be selected for the team. The team consists of Matthew Dardet ’17, Andre Radensky ’17, Megan Eisenfelder ’16, and Deepti Sailappan ‘16. Ryan Graf ’16 and Jubin Gorgi ’17 will battle it out for the fifth alternative spot. Our Pine Crest School Duel team must first take an online test to see if they qualify for the School Duel. Then, the top twenty teams will compete head-to-head on television to become the School Duel Champions. Good luck to the Pine Crest School Duel team and congratulations to those inducted into the National English Honor Society!