The National Art Honor Society is a club that allows high school artists to  come together and collaborate on different projects.  

 The club provides opportunities for juniors and seniors in the form of  scholarships for art schools and other colleges after graduation. 

 The NAHS is a nationally recognized club, which is appealing to colleges,  according to teacher and club sponsor Megan Johnson. Club attendees will  be recognized at graduation with a rainbow cord. 

 Senior Taylor Golmen, who attends  the club regularly, used the club to help  her with a scholarship. 

 “Having [the] Art Honor Society on  my application for [a scholarship] I did  through John Brown — the college I’m  going to – helped me win that scholarship,” Golmen said. 

 Most students who have attended the club said they enjoyed it enough to sign back up for the next year. 

 “I think everybody that’s in the club enjoys it,” Johnson said. “I think there’s lots of students that, once they join it, they join it again the next year.” Senior Parri McCroskey recommends it for people serious about art, and for  others wanting to connect with people with similar interests.

 “I would recommend others [to attend  the club], if they’re really into art and stuff and just want to get to know more  people that are into art,” McCroskey said. 

 The appeal of the club, apart from being a good way to meet new people,  is that it adds to the in-class art experience. 

 “I just think it’s a really great pro gram, I love doing art whenever I can and [the club is] an extra thing I can do  outside of class,” Golmen said. It’s also a way to collaborate with artists of other styles than one’s own. “The purpose of it is to get all the different classes to collaborate together,” Johnson said. “Students that  take ceramics or photography, painting or drawing can all come together in a club — so it’s basically the elite artists  of the school.” 

 According to Johnson, any student who has taken an advanced art class is  applicable. 

 “Anybody that has been in the advanced classes can apply for it,” Johnson said. “It is an application process, [students] submit their portfolio, then it  is reviewed [by] the art department and then from there we send out notifications on who made it into each year.”

However, that should not hold any potential club members back from  joining. 

 “I don’t think people should be afraid about not being good enough to join the  club,” McCroskey said. “We do accept  anyone who is in an advanced class, but that doesn’t mean you have to be [in] Drawing III to be in this club. We accept everyone and we all consider each other equals no matter what level we’re at.” The club is also a good way to invest in the community. 

 “We do a lot of different activities each year, but it’s really to give back to the community, too,” Johnson said. “We do community service projects,  collaboration and expand past [the students’] art classes.”  

 The club also participates in various fundraising activities for charities that  promote art programs in schools. “One of the things we do is paint  birdhouses to look like famous paintings, and we give that money to the charity towards art programs in  schools,” McCroskey said. “We help in  Sucker Day, too, by doing the sidewalk chalk and face painting.” 

 Johnson advises all students to involve themselves in extracurricular  activities, whatever they may be. “The more things you can get involved in to make those connections in high school, the more meaningful high school is,” Johnson said. “[The] more extracurricular activities you do, the more it makes the rest of your classes enjoyable. So, whether it be National  Art Honor Society, or any other club, I  highly encourage students to invest in  something and make those… relationships that will make their high school  career so impactful to them.”