by Sophie Yang, ’19

Ten seniors and 114 juniors were inducted into Upper Arlington’s chapter of the National Honors Society on March 3. The induction ceremony took place at 2:30 p.m. in the UAHS auditorium.

The ceremony began with a welcome from principal Andrew Theado and a speech from UAHS alum Megan Fisher encouraging inductees to step outside their comfort zones. Students then carried out a candle lighting ceremony and all inductees crossed the stage to receive a membership pin from Theado.

Four juniors inducted into the National Honors Society inductees—Isaac Adams, Cassandra D’Angelo, Ariana Kanchuger and Madeline White—announced names and led portions of the ceremony.

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The induction ceremony marked the end of a several-weeks long process of selecting new National Honors Society members.

AP/IB coordinator Cynthia Ballheim, who oversees the society’s Upper Arlington chapter, said juniors were required to have at least a 3.75 grade point average by the end of first semester to qualify for the National Honors Society. Those who qualified, Ballheim said, completed an application in early February speaking to their scholarship, character, leadership and service—the National Honors Society’s four pillars.

“Students really had to write about service and how that has affected them—a list of activities wasn’t sufficient. Teacher recommendations were asked for to focus mainly on the character of the student,” Ballheim said. “We have a cum laude society based just on grades. This one, you have to [match] the four pillars.”

Ballheim said during the selection process, there was no cap on the number of inductees.

“If they’re qualified, they’re in,” Ballheim said.

After the induction ceremony, the students signed their names in a National Honors Society book. Ballheim said the book, which started with last year’s class of inductees, is the third in the history of Upper Arlington’s National Honors Society chapter. The previous one, started in spring 1952, says the society began in 1925.


Inducted seniors:

Stephen Bair
Diego Ly
Lily Moazampour
Sarah Perry
Ava Peterson
Caroline Pirwitz
Madison Pritchett
Daniel Seely
Matthew Shepherd
Elijah Voorhees

Inducted juniors:

Isaac Adams
Nina Akins
Theodora Anghelina
Cassidy Baran
Taylor Baran
Kaylee Barrett
John Basil
Guilia Bedalli
Rachel Berk
William Bertke
Samuel Bonasso
Monica Browning
MaeLing Bruns
Olivia Chohan
Morgan Clark
Allison Cleveland
Benjamin Crespo
Alexandra Criss
Thomas Crosten
Cassandra D’Angelo
Joseph DeCapua
Andrew DeVoe
Brooke DeWalt
Pearl Durakovic
Ayah Elsheikh
Valerie Feller
Catalina Fernandez
Katelyn Fetherolf
Elliot Fosler-Lussier
Jocelyn Fowler
Matthew Giammar
William Gillespie
Jessie Goldberg
Alexander Goldman
Jennifer Gomez
Ava Grimes
Nicholas Hansen
Lydia Haskins
Emma Hayek
Abigail Hendershot
Natalie Horn
Alicia Howe
Emily Hummer
Calista Hundley
Anna Jonaus
Ariana Kanchuger
Allan Kawakami
Molly Kershner
Richard Kim
Susan Kim
Evelyn Kretzer
Riley Kuehn
Sydney Lape
Caroline Lilly
Megan Martz
Rachel Maves
Ethan Mayerson
Maggie McKinney
Luigi Melaragno
Nick Mullins
Grace Murdick
Elizabeth Murray
Juliana Mustric
Phoebe Pappas
Isaac Perry
Margaret Mitchell
Briana Piccinich
Jack Pilutti
Adelaide Pittinger
Macy Porterfield
June Postalakis
Claire Powell
Joseph Rancitelli
Stella Rankin
Katerina Regules
Rosalyn Reinke
Michael Reisman
Sarah Renner
William Root
Sydney Rose
Lindsey Rush
Margaret Ryan
Ellena Schildmeyer
Julianna Schlatter
Grace Schooley
Kyle Shafer
Gabrielle Shell
Wenzhuo Shi
Taylor Shockley
Jhanavi Sivakumar
Ellen Sneed
Karen Snyder
Jaykuhn Song
Emma Switzer
Grace Taylor
Ava Towle
Isabella Walther
Olivia Wang
Jackson Weeks
Madeline White
Grace Wild
McKinley Witt
Leon Wu
Jacqueline Yerke
Brooke Yoakam
Ainsley Young
Ethan Young
Clint Younkin
Nathan Yu
Avery Zelina
Quentin Zimmer
Susan Zunic