Valley Ridge Academy welcomed the next crop of National Junior Honor Society club members during an induction ceremony in the school’s cafeteria March 30.
Fifty students were inducted during the ceremony, which is an increase from the amount they had participated in this year’s club, according to Aletha Dresback, a teacher at Valley Ridge and sponsor of the club.
Dresback praised the current leadership group with the NJHS club for their creativity and the initiative they showed when organizing projects within the community.
“As an honor society, service is at its core, and in the past we have had to come up with reasons and projects, but not with this group,” Dresback said. “Every single one of them brought opportunities to the table from our very first meeting.”
Some of the projects the club has been involved with this year has included collecting food items, numerous clothes drives and candy grams to raise money for different local nonprofit organizations.
“We were the only club that donated close to 2,000 individual items to feed the hungry through St. Johns CARES,” Dresback said. “This club truly does foster leaders. I have taught every single one of them on stage tonight, and I’m always amazed at how much leadership grows when you are around people who want to lead.”
With that being said, she put out a call to all the new inductees for any who are considering becoming one of the eight leadership spots in the club, especially since each of the current leadership team are eighth graders and will be graduating at the end of the school year.
According to club president Cailey Price, she remembers initially getting started with the program because she saw others getting involved and it seemed like fun and great opportunities.
“I’ve always wanted to serve my community and make it better, so as soon as this opportunity popped up, I said ‘let’s go for it,’” co-president Rodrigo DeLeon Ruiz. “I believe it takes student leadership to change a school first and then the community. I hope that my career path is definitely headed toward leadership, so I’m definitely going to look back on this time fondly.”
Price and Ruiz both wished lucked to all 50 inductees and encouraged them that being part of the leadership team is well worth it and so many great memories will be made as a result.
“There is no greater honor than standing at the podium and inducting new members,” Ruiz said. “Being able to go to school and know that you helped to make that happen is a joy that you pretty much can’t find anywhere else.”
Of all the events the club was involved in this year, the candy grams sold were the most memorable for Price.
“Those were definitely a big hit, and it was an opportunity for students all throughout the school to donate lollipops to friends of theirs,” Price said. “We raised a lot of money which was great to see.”
Miss Nease Sofia Bostic was the guest speaker at the ceremony, as she spoke to the crowd about how attending Valley Ridge Academy and being part of its junior national honor society helped shape who she is and the approach she has taken throughout high school en route to achieving Miss Nease.
