Club Corner: National Honor Society gives gift of volunteering

Alan Ruiz

National Honor Society Club President Delilah Brumer leads the first club meeting of the school year on Sept. 20.

Alan Ruiz

As a student, Magnet Coordinator Natalie Berghoudian boosted her confidence by branching out into leadership and volunteer opportunities, which motivated her to become the sponsor of the National Honor Society (NHS) this year.

“The fact that NHS requires you to volunteer, that’s what really drew me in because I love giving students opportunities where they can be leaders,” Berghoudian said. “I think NHS offers those opportunities as well.”

During distance learning and the school year that followed, NHS meetings were very rare. Berghoudian and club president Delilah Brumer hoped to revive the club and create an increase in volunteer opportunities at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School (DPMHS).

“To me, I think what makes it valuable is the volunteer work,” Berghoudian said. “Yes, of course, academics are important but I think being leaders and stepping into leadership roles is the most valuable experience that you can get.”

One of the opportunities created by NHS this school year was a holiday toy drive in December, the first drive organized by NHS in DPMHS history. The drive collected enough toys to fill up two large boxes. The toys were donated to New Directions For Youth, which distributed them to low-income and high-risk youth in the San Fernando Valley.

“It’s been really great to see underclassmen get involved in the school,” Brumer said. “We’ve been able to have really great initiatives like the toy drive and it’s meant that we have been able to have the opportunity to give back to our community in a club that has been around for many, many years.”

NHS has its sights on an interactive mentorship program involving volunteer NHS mentors and students who request academic or social-emotional support. The goal of the program will be to provide students with the opportunity to receive assistance from a peer, which is also meant to build unity at the school. Berghoudian hopes to fully implement the program next school year. 

“Not everybody is able to make friends,” Berghoudian said. “They may have issues socializing for whatever reason. For me, that’s the biggest piece is just being able to find somebody that you can count on at school, somebody that you can connect with, somebody that’s just there for you whether it’s to help you with academics or social-emotionally.”

Brumer, who was a member of NHS since sophomore year and served as the vice president last year, schedules and leads club meetings and discusses plans for the club with Berghoudian. She is proud of her work in helping provide DPMHS students with outlets to get involved in their school community. 

“I’ve learned that there are lots of people at this school who really do want to get involved,” Brumer said. “They just don’t always have the opportunity to get involved, so this is a great way for them to do so.”