(12/1/05):
The Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School Chapter of the National Honor Society was awarded a national Outstanding Service Project Award as part of the National Honor Society Conference held in Washington, D.C., November 11-13, 2005. Seventeen students represented Old Colony at the thirteenth annual conference.
This is the sixth time and third year in a row that Old Colony has received a national Outstanding Service Project Award. This year the award was received for the service project It’s in the Bag. This project involved making “tote” bags for residents in local nursing homes to use with their wheelchairs or walkers, or to place on their beds. NHS members also personally delivered the bags and visited with the residents to show that someone was thinking of them and to brighten their day.
NHS members solicited donations of items they would need to make the bags- new cloth placemats, material, fabric, thread, etc. and for the items they would be placing in the bags- tissues, lotions, pens, pencils, pads of paper and candy. “Bag-making” workshops were held after school with staff and parents volunteering their time and expertise in demonstrating how to sew and also lending a hand in the production of the bags. NHS members, with help from additional students were able to complete 140 tote bags.
Once completed, the bags were filled with the donated and purchased items and a card was attached. NHS members then delivered the bags to local nursing homes where they were able to visit with each recipient as they distributed the bags.
Old Colony was one of ten NHS Chapters that received national awards for outstanding service to their school and community this year, and is the only chapter in the country to have won six Outstanding Service Project awards.
Nearly 1000 National Honor Society and National Junior Honor Society leaders and faculty advisors from across the country participated in the National Conference held this year in Washington, D.C. During the three-day conference, delegates attended workshop sessions on leadership, character building skills, effective student projects, and heard presentations from nationally known speakers. In addition, members networked with student leaders and advisors from schools across the nation, discussed social, educational, and political issues and exchanged ideas.
Old Colony members traveled to Washington, D.C. one day early to experience some of the sights of our nation’s capital. They visited the Arlington National Cemetery where they witnessed the “Changing of the Guard” at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and visited other points of interest. At the Smithsonian Institution, they visited the Air and Space Museum, the American History Museum and the Natural History Museum. They also went on a “Washington After Dark” bus tour where they visited the Jefferson, Lincoln, Vietnam, Korean, and FDR Memorials.
Members of the National Honor Society who attended the conference were: Aaron Carvalho, Jeffrey Cormier, Brandon Denault, Brandon Duarte, Brett Duguay, Janelle Gifford, and Ryan Pimental of Acushnet; Samantha Clarke, Nicole Doyle, Keith Morgado, Thomas Ouellette, and Holly Tomkiewicz of East Freetown; Nicholas DeBrum and Kyle O’Neill of Lakeville; and Rebecca Dexter, Natalie Hazen, and Michael Ricardo of Carver.