A new chapter has begun for English lovers at Atherton.
Students have brought the National English Honor Society to Atherton, and the club recently was recognized as an official chapter. William Tucker, one of Atherton’s IB English teachers, as well as the sponsor, was recently able to connect with people from Northern Illinois University in order to get their charter and finally be recognized as an official chapter.
Reese McCarty (12) is president of the NEHS and advocated for the chapter to become official at Atherton.
“I noticed how many National Honor Societies we had, yet there were none for English lovers. I thought that it was something that we
were lacking in the school,” said McCarty.
She has enjoyed seeing her vision of the club together over each meeting.
“My favorite part of the club is getting to connect with people that have an extreme love for English like I do,” said McCarty.
Lorelai Bowman (12) is treasurer of the club and was very happy with the turnout of people.
“I love the conversations that we have. Last meeting we talked about song lyrics and it was great because everyone had something to say, and it was nice to hear all different voices,” Bowman said.
William Tucker, the sponsor of Atherton’s NEHS, was proud to see such a love for English.
“Earlier this year Reese approached me about starting a club for the National English Honor Society and we had never heard of such a thing and didn’t even know it existed. But seeing Reese’s enthusiasm and being a lover of English and a written work myself, I thought what better way to celebrate our collective love of stories, storytelling and literature than to give our own NEHS club here at Atherton,” Tucker said. “I’ve really enjoyed seeing people’s enthusiasm for sharing stories. I think it’s just a really cool opportunity for people who love english and books to get together and talk and when we all get together and share these interesting pieces for ourselves helps everybody feel like they belong.”
McCarty hopes that underclassmen will be willing to continue the chapter here at Atherton for years to come.
“We would love to see our numbers grow, and we need people that are interested in being officers next year, that are juniors,” said McCarty. “So if there are any juniors that are interested, please reach out to me or attend our next meeting.”
