Serving other people is an important part of many communities, whether it is donating clothes or old toys to charities, serving at a soup kitchen, or just mowing your neighbor’s lawn out of the goodness of your heart. Albert Einstein said, “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” One club at De Soto High School, the National Honor Society, enjoys helping others in the community as well.

“NHS is a John Glenn chapter of the world-renowned National Honor Society,” said NHS sponsor Nancy Perry. “Students apply in August to be initiated into the chapter in November. It is based on character, leadership, you must have a 3.4 academic GPA to be asked to apply.”

Perry and the NHS members devoted part of their weekend to help a local organization.

“This semester, students have to do at least five hours [of community service]. The group as a whole made the decision to go to the Bonner Springs Animal Shelter,” Perry said.

Perry described the important work that the members did to help the shelter.

“Students completely took everything out of their storage facility,” Perry said. “[The students] rebuilt shelves from scratch, and put everything back in. They fixed the fence line in the back. They did yard work, landscaping, they cleaned out all of the cages inside. They cleaned the gutters, they cleaned the front of the building, and then they bonded with some of the pets.”

The shelter valued all of the support and contributions that NHS provided.

“This is the second year we have gone up there [the Bonner Springs Animal Shelter], and they really appreciate activities and the groups that come in and actually give them their time for free,” Perry said.

Senior and NHS president Lyndsey Fowks gave her view of the experience.

“The really cool part of the experience was just seeing the before and after effect of what we [NHS] were able to do as an organization,” Fowks said. “I set up the projects beforehand. We did a lot of yard work, all of the spring cleaning type stuff. We organized their garage, we cleaned cages, we raked leaves and we re-did flower beds.”

According to Perry, NHS is important to the students.

“The students enjoy [NHS],” Perry said. “They think it’s going to be a lot of work, and it is a lot of work. They get up there and they have a great time.”

Fowks believes NHS is just as enjoyable as it is rewarding and helpful.

“NHS is super cool because it’s this group of people who really want to help out, and it’s a group of people who want to improve things in the community and are willing to take that extra time to make a difference,” Fowks said.