By DEB BENTLY
Staff Writer
The NRHEG chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) inducted juniors Alden Dobberstein, Sierra Misgen and Tayla Sandry during a ceremony held Wednesday, Nov. 15 in the high school gym. All three inductees expressed that they felt honored to be inducted.
Speaker for the event was Duey Ferber, sixth-grade teacher for the district.
The NHS lists four cornerstone personality traits for potential members: scholarship, leadership, service and character. Ferber focused on the word “leadership.”
He told those in attendance, “Being a leader is not about being the best, it is about making everyone else better.” He went on to say that the NHS members assembled on the stage were not “perfect.”
“I taught them all how to drive,” joked Ferber. “I assure you, they made mistakes.”
Ferber then went on to share a story of regret from his own childhood. He told of a classmate who was “an easy target” for bullies. He confessed, “I didn’t join in, but I did nothing to stop it.
“I was 12 years old, and I was a coward.”
He went on to suggest that anyone in the room could be a leader. “Be the kind of person who stands up for the Penny Fishers of the world,” he suggested. “Be the kind of person who looks for solutions rather than complications.
“Show leadership by shoveling an elderly neighbor’s driveway,” he offered, then went on to give his own address. “Be the kind of leader who understands pressure is a privilege; it means something is expected of you.
“And always,” Ferber finished, “choose kindness.”
Along with the three inductees, members of the New Richland chapter of the National Honor Society are Kia Buendorf, Payton Bunn, Julia Churchill, Keira Lenort, Addison Loken, McKenzie Mueller, Madison Murray, Evelyn Nydegger, Erin Peterson, Annabelle Petsinger, George Roessler, Tayler Schmidt, Hallie Schultz, Brenna Sommer and Isabel Stadheim.