NHS Planting Event 2024
Details
National Honors Society (NHS) is a program at schools across the nation to encourage leadership and community amongst students. To be a member, you must:
- maintain a 3.5 GPA
- Attend 3 service events a semester
I had one service event left, so I signed up. It was held on Monday, November 11th, 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. on the OPHS Back entry/exit ramp next to the football and baseball fields. It involved “planting trees and other physical activities,” according to the email.
The event
I arrived early to the school and spent some time getting homework done. I walked down to the ramp and got there right at 11:30 a.m. The hill down at the field was composed of dead grass prior to the event. As I arrived, it turns out students from other high schools showed up and did the majority of the planting. So, I was put on the mulching crew. After about five minutes, planting was completed and everyone was on mulching.
The president made a mistake in sign-ups, so we also had double the amount of people as expected to complete the event. I introduced myself to one of the staff members who was explaining what to do. We exchanged names and he seemed to take a liking to me. I think his name was Dan, so that’s how I will refer to him in this post.
Mulching involved first putting mulch from the big pile into a container, and then distributing the mulch around the hill without covering the plants themselves. There were shovels and rakes, and I was given a rake. They were easier in that they held the mulch better without being as heavy.
Dan assigned Abhiyan, the NHS President, and myself to the wheelbarrow, the biggest of the containers and most efficient. Abhiyan was the leader, and I was power housing, so it made sense. However, the students did not listen to Dan’s directions when he assigned roles, despite the fact he repeated himself.
Speaking of the students, with such a large group, everyone separated into cliques. The girls, the guys who didn’t help, the guys who were enthusiastically helping, and the people who weren’t social. The girls are mostly seniors or juniors, and I talked with them a bit on a recent English assignment. The guys who didn’t help talked the entire time and ditched for a half hour. The guys who enthusiastically helped were social and funny to listen to. The non-social individuals all did the event without talking to anyone.
Once we finished mulching the first layer, the staff had us start a second layer. One guy I knew through an old friend of mine was taking the lead at this point. He’s from Wind Symphony, a saxophonist. It was interesting, as he didn’t need to be credible or have a role in any sense, just a strong voice. I heard the staff admiring his ability to take the lead. He was the most leader there, despite other individuals assigned to lead being there.
Dan came over once the second layer was sufficient and instructed us to make burrows. These burrows would catch rainfall as it came down.
Making these burrows was easy, and provided a cooldown from all of the raking, shoveling, pushing and heat we had endured already. The hoses the staff were using to water the plants as we mulched had some leaks, so we got to cooldown when the spray came our way.
We put all our equipment away as we finished, and all grouped by the sign in area.The ending and closing thoughts
The president went to be interviewed, and I waited to walk back up the hill with him. Meanwhile, I saw a girl standing off to the side, likely waiting for a ride. I strike up a conversation, turns out, she’s in choir! For some strange reason, I gravitate toward the performing arts kids. She was lovely to talk to. I asked her what grade she’s in, and then she guessed mine. Anytime I do this, I get called a junior. I am just so youthful, haha.
She gets her ride and the prez and I walk back up, I eat my sandwich, and head home. I crashed after getting home, as the heat and how much I pushed myself gave me a headache. However, it was well worth it. As I believe I stated at the last Mulching event, the physical labor is fulfilling and it’s pleasant to complete a task with hard work and a team.
Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you again next week :)