BPHS welcomes new honor society members
Bo Zwiener, left, lights the candle that symbolizes character during the Minnesota Honor Society Induction at Blooming Prairie High School. Also pictured, from left, are Abby Jordison, Brady Kittelson, Ella Smith and Mia Johnson. Two dozen new members were welcomed during the April 23 event. Staff photo by Kay Fate
In the flurry of applications that face high school students, it can be easy to slip into the same recitation of accomplishments and hobbies.
That’s why the committee that selected the new members of the Blooming Prairie Chapter of the Minnesota Honor Society did something different.
“We took a more personal approach,” said Mary Worke, school counselor at BPHS, and asked potential new members about experiences that relate to the MHS pillars of scholarship, leadership, character and service.
The application asked who the students admired – and why.
“We want you to hear this, because so many of you are in this room,” Worke said during last week’s induction ceremony.
The answers ranged from moms and dads to coaches and maintenance people, but it was the “why” that struck a chord.
“They are always there for me,” Worke began. “They spend time with me; they are strong, even when life isn’t; … they have pushed me to be the best I can be, while still positively influencing me; they are respectful to others; I feel safe with them.”
One of the questions asked about a time the students were fully committed to something. There were plenty of expected responses: jobs, academics, choir, band “and of course sports,” Worke said.
“But some of the more unique answers were finding a college, building the Titanic – I think they meant a replica,” she joked. Someone “created a life-size Egyptian sarcophagus; and lastly, working on their mental health.”
The list of service and volunteer experience was impressive.
Answers included helping deliver Meals on Wheels; supporting veterans and their programs; helping at the Salvation Army, Feed My Starving Children and with United Way projects; helping with cancer awareness events; helping an elderly person move; teaching Vacation Bible School; tutoring and helping at the elementary and intermediate classrooms; and being a good friend to someone who is struggling with mental health.
One student said they had “stepped in and rescued a couple young swimmers and brought them to safety.”
The applicants were asked to give an example of “a time when you were an upstander instead of a bystander,” Worke said. “An upstander stands up for an individual or a cause when someone’s being attacked, bullied or belittled.
“It can be scary, even though it’s the right thing to do,” she said. “Reading these answers, I couldn’t help but feel so proud of these kids.”
Many students had examples of standing up for other students: helping a classmate prove they didn’t cheat when they were being accused of it; supporting a student being bullied and left out; standing up for a shy classmate who had excellent ideas, but was being talked over; helping two students in their classroom work out their differences; standing up for a coworker who was being called stupid; and verbally confronting another student when they called a friend a racist slur.
“As you can see, we really wanted to get to know these kids,” Worke said. “We can look at (grade) transcripts; we see them every day at school, but we didn’t get to really know what was personal about them, and that’s why we changed the application process.
It provided the selection committee “a chance to get to see what you guys are doing when we’re not around at times, and standing up for others, volunteering – lots of good things, and I was so, so proud to read your applications,” she said.
“You are an honor student today not only because you are a strong academic person,” Worke told the 24 new members, “but you possess the traits of strong leaders, you show positive character in times of conflict and when other people need you.”
New BP Honor Society Members
Tyler Anderson, Catelyn Bartlett, Kailyn Bissen, Allison Blume, Bradley Boyd, Layla Coleman, Cooper Cooke, Natalee DeVries, Isabel Dickel, Regan Donnelly, Madelyn Harvey, Jonathan Heimgartner, Carsten Ingvalson, Brady Johnson, Avery Larson, Lance Lembke, Ambriella Miller, Drew Reinke, Ella Salinas, Claire Schwarz, Kaydance VerHey-Schumacher, Cannon Wacek, Kloe Wacek and Chloe Weber.