For the first time at West, history buffs have their chance to shine. Students who have an interest in and have been successful in their social studies classes now have the opportunity to join an honors society of their own.
The Social Studies Honors Society was established by the Social Studies Department Chair Debra Troxell, who has been eagerly waiting to start this group.
“All the other major subject areas have had honor societies for years, and I kept waiting for someone else to start this group, so I just decided to do it myself,” Troxell said.
This club gives students opportunities to expand their knowledge of history and participate in engaging educational activities.
“Someone will come and speak to students about areas of interest like mapping and geographic information systems. We will also go on field trips like the recent Reynolda House exhibit about RJ Reynolds’ son who passed away at the house,” Troxell said.
Students are also anticipating going to other places both in and out of state to experience as much as possible.
“I would like to maybe go to Washington, Raleigh or maybe just places in the area where we could experience a lot of culture,” junior Carolyn Villatoro said.
Students also feel it is important to have history based clubs to learn more about not only what they love, but what is important to their country.
“I think it’s important to know where we came from, how we are here, what it took to get here and we need to learn history so we know not to repeat it,” junior Enisa Smith said.
Members will be expected to gain service hours and Troxell will provide them with chances to receive them during club activities.
“The club will facilitate hours for members like helping social studies teachers at the beginning of each semester get ready for classes, and they could also get involved in community events related to social studies like working at polling places, working for political campaigns, and voter registration drives,” Troxell said.
To join the club, students must meet the minimum application requirements of being a junior or senior, having completed three social studies courses, enrolling in two this year and are on track to have completed six courses before graduation. Half of the courses must be honors credit or above, and students must have a 3.5 unweighted GPA in their cumulative and social studies classes.
Since the honor society is still a newly established club, there was a later due date for applications; however, next year, they will be due late August. Students interested in joining next year should see Troxell in room 701.
