Two generations connected over keyboards during National Honors Society’s first service event on Friday, October 30.

 The first NHS community service event, hosted by York County Area Agency on Aging, was Medicare Open Enrollment, where students assisted senior citizens in registering for Medicare after the half day of school.   

NHS is an organization of academically advanced seniors who also excel in extracurricular activities. The club exists to use these students’ skills to help the community through service hours, and for these students to graduate with NHS honors, they must complete eight service hours before graduation.

 York County Area Agency on Aging volunteer Catherine Dietz was in charge of training students on the website and helped consumers with registration at the event.

 “[The agency paired with Susquehannock for this event] because there are numerous consumers in this southern area of York County who have to travel into York [for services],” said Dietz. “The reason that we come here is to try to make it easier for them, so they don’t have to drive so far.”

  NHS students who volunteered for the event were dismissed from classes at 11 a.m. to begin the event, which continued on until 4 p.m. Students could choose the amount of hours they volunteered and were provided a lunch for their service.

  NHS advisor James Sterner sees the value in community service of this kind and is glad that students were able to provide such a valuable service.

  “I think it connects two different generations, and it provides a very important service to our community,” said Sterner. “It also allows them to see young people in a good light instead of hearing about the bad ones on the news.”

  Throughout the five-hour event, community members came to SHS for assistance, and NHS students were able to solve any problems that they had in registering for Medicare services.

  Senior Tara Weaver volunteered for the event to fulfill NHS requirements for her senior year and impending graduation.

  “It was important for NHS to help at the Medicare event because it shows involvement in the community with young adults wanting to help others,” said Weaver. “Also, it was a huge help to the older volunteers to have someone quick with the technology to help…”

  NHS students will continue to complete service hours throughout the year in various outlets such as scholastic tutoring, religious events, and other community projects as these opportunities arise. On November 10, the induction ceremony for incoming juniors and seniors will make the ranks of NHS grow to approximately 150 students committed to serving their community.