• Scholarship: Scholarship means a commitment to learning. A student must be willing to spend hours in reading and study because he/she knows the lasting benefits of a cultivated mind. We should continue to learn even when formal education has ended, for education ends only with life. Knowledge is one great element of life which leads to the highest success, and it can be acquired only through diligence and effort. Learning furnishes the lamp by which we read the past, and the light which illuminates the future. Each candidate has the charge to continually expand his/her world through the opportunities inherent in scholarship. Students who have a cumulative grade point average 4.0 (on a 4.5 scale) meet the scholarship requirement for membership. These students are then eligible for consideration on the basis of service, leadership, and character.

• Service: Service can be expressed in various ways. In the routine of the day's owrk, many opportunities arise for help to others. Willingness to work without monetary compensation or without recognition for the benefit of those in need, is the quality we seek in our membership. We are committed to the idea of volunteering our time and abilities to the creation of a better tomorrow.

• Leadership: Leadership should exert a wholesome influence on the school. Student leaders are those who are resourceful, good problem solvers, promoters of school activities, idea-contributors, dependable, and persons who exemplify positive attitudes about life. In taking the initiative in class and school activities, the real leader strives to train and aid others to attain the same objective. The price of leadership is sacrifice, the willingness to yield one's personal interests for the interest of others. A leader has confidence in himself or herself and will go forward when others hesitate. No matter what power and resources may exist in a country, they are ineffectual without the quidance of a wise leader. Leadership experiences can be drawn from school or community activities while working with or for others. Leadership is always needed, and is thus a substantive charge to each of our members and to the candidates.

• Character: Character is the force in one person that distinguishes him or her from others. It gives him or her individuality and personality. It is that without no person can respect himself or herself, nor hope to attain the respect of others. It is this force of character that guides men and women through life, adn when once developed, grows steadily. Character is achieved and not received. The student of good character upholds principles of morality and ethics, is cooperative, demonstrates high standards of honesty and reliability, shows courtesy, concern, and respect for others, and generally maintains a good and clean lifestyle. Character is the product of constant action, daily striving to make the right choice. The problem of character is the problem of self control. We must be in reality what we wish to appear to others. By demonstrating such qualities as reliability, honesty, and sincerity, we may hope to prove by example that we value character.

Specific standards for these criteria may vary from one school to the next. Such variations are acceptable as long as they do not fall below the national standards set by the National Council of the NHS and NJHS. All chapters are required to write down the criteria and procedures used in their local selection processes. The Honor Society adviser maintains copies of the local procedures and has them available upon request. Any student in grades 10 through 12 in a school with both an official charter of the National Honor Society and an affiliation with the national office is eligible for consideration for membership in NHS.