By Kishal Shah – Staff Reporter   

Jonathan Law’s National English Honor Society held its first meeting of the year in October and is currently running a Holiday Book Drive.

NEHS is a national philanthropic organization which aims to give back to the community by cultivating a vibrant environment where high school students and teachers can immerse themselves in experiences of promoting literacy and serving society. 

Law plans to contribute to NEHS’s values by organizing events and fundraisers that help spread the importance and prominence of  books and reading in a learning  environment. NEHS Advisor Mrs. Lucia believes members must think about the society’s impact on a larger scale than just within Law, and expand its influence throughout the city of Milford.  

“I hope that we continue to do charity projects outside of the book drive, and one of my goals is to get students into elementary schools for reading, whether it’s to just read with kids to help provide support or just take a story time off of a teacher’s plate and entertain the kids for a little while,” Lucia said. “That would be another way to involve students in the elementary school community that will eventually be coming to Law.”

NEHS Treasurer Alexandra Fino is collaborating with fellow officers to organize the society’s ongoing Holiday Book Drive, which they hope will achieve their shared goal of donating books to make reading more accessible for the citizens of Milford.

“One thing we are doing currently is a Book Drive, where students from the school can donate old books they are no longer using, so those books can be recycled to new people who can read and use them more,” Fino said. “Not only does this repurpose books, but it allows people who may not regularly have access to books to be able to read them.”

Apart from contributing to community fundraisers and events such as the Book Drive and reading in elementary schools, another requirement for members of the society includes required English Tutoring in the TLC after school during the Extended Learning Program (ELP) hours. 

Senior NEHS member Brianna Madelung is enthusiastic about helping other peers through peer tutoring as she finds it to be a personable way of giving back to the Law community. 

“I look forward to helping out during tutoring the most,” Madelung said. 

Senior Olivia Pisacane also believes peer tutoring helps build relations with peers and helps foster a positive literary learning environment in the Law community.

“I’m looking forward to fundraising more and helping others in the Support Center,” Pisacane said. 

This practice of tutoring during ELP hours is vital to the society’s mission and values because it is an obligation as a society member to spread the learning of literary knowledge, and helps other peers build their foundations in English to improve in their language skills in their respective courses.