Area students gain understanding of honor during NHS ceremonies
By Dave Mast
June 1, 2011
391
Honor comes in many forms, and can show its heart at any given moment.
As a former long-time teacher, Jeff Pratt knows how important honor is, in the classroom, between students, student and faculty, youth and their parents.
Pratt spoke to the Hiland student body at this years National Honor Society induction, and talked about what honor truly means, summing up what being part of the National Honor Society really entails.
My father and I have very different ideas as to what honor means, said Pratt. To him, it was like a old southern idea of honor, where a gentleman would challenge someone to a duel. He always felt that honor had to do with ego, like a person receiving a great honor.
Pratt began giving serious thought to the meaning of honor, and decided to ask a very good Native American friend what Native Americans believe honor to be. In the words of his friends, Honor is one of those words you can spend a lifetime thinking about. I have heard the elders say that it is being one with the world around you and living with respect for all. Our law is that all life is equal in the great creation, and we as human beings are charged with the responsibility of working toward the continuation of life. We are all accountable to leave the environment in healthy order for the next generation. Every generation is accountable to teach the next generation how to live in harmony. We need to ask ourselves what we are teaching the next generation.
Pratt gave great thought to that knowledge, and decided to expand it into a couple of scenarios he experienced in his life. He decided to focus on how a word lives and operates in the real world, rather than try to pigeonhole it into a definition.
The first experience was a recent one with his work with the Holmes Soil & Water Conservation District. Pratt tests stream water for the SWCD and one of the streams he tests runs through a farmers property, meandering here and there, taking up valuable acreage.
Pratt said he always wanted to meet the man who owned the property and see why he didnt try to straighten the stream so he could better utilize the land.
The man simply said that because that was how nature had made it, he wanted to keep it that way, and that he got as much joy out of watching the fish and other wildlife in the stream as anything. It was a simple answer, one steeped in honor.
The other instance Pratt referred to was with longtime Hiland basketball coach Perry Reese Jr., who passed away in 2000.
When Reese was very ill, he and Pratt became extremely close. One day, just weeks before Reese passed away, Pratt said that the two were discussing Pratts son.
Perry, at that point, was not always thinking clearly, said Pratt. His illness was pretty advanced. But one thing Perry always did was help people. He loved doing things for others. Well, we were right in the middle of supper and Coach looks at my son and says, Taylor, where are you going to college?
Pratt said Taylor presented Reese with a number of options, before eventually coming to the University of Cincinnati. Reeses eyes lit up with the mention of Cincinnati.
Thats where you are going to school, said Reese to Taylor.
Father and son looked at each other inquisitively, and thought nothing of it, until later, when Taylor did apply to Cincinnati and was accepted.
Then things really began taking shape when two of Taylors roommates, and eventual best friends, were a couple of young African-American men from Euclid, Ohio, who had grown up in the inner city. Pratt said that the four roommates went places, and Taylor discovered things about life and about how to treat people fairly that he well may have never learned had he not become paired up with these young men.
The roommates traveled to places in Cincinnati that a young, white college students would otherwise never have visited. There, Taylors eyes were opened to a new culture, his line between black and white adjusting to shades of gray, as he began to see the world through new eyes.
As a scholarship recipient to Cincinnati, Taylor had to do volunteer work. He chose to read to children in inner city schools. The children were drawn to him, he to the children. Words of confirmation from one of the teachers gave Taylor pause, and he changed his major from criminal justice to early childhood education, and now teaches in Atlanta, Ga.
Heres an African-American who comes to a school that is all white, to prove that the color of someones skin doesnt matter at all, said Pratt. And what does he do before he dies? He tells a white boy from Holmes County to go to the city. Its amazing how things work in full circle. It completely changed Taylors view on life.
The final example of honor was a fishing excursion Pratt went on with fellow teacher Aaron Rossetti. Boating, they went from the Killbuck, to the Walhounding to the Mohican waterway. Down below Zanesville, they ran short on food, and hungry and tired, ventured upon an old man by the river. After visiting with the man for some time, the man excused himself while the travelers wondered where their next meal would come from.
After shoving off, they got downstream, and soon found that the man had snuck three large deer steaks into their cooler, having known of their plight.
Heres this guy, who didnt have much, but he gave what he could to help us on our journey, said Pratt. He didnt want thanks, the only satisfaction he needed was that we were helped, and that was his thanks.
When I think about honor, I think of these three things. One is honoring nature, which is what the guy at the river did. The second was honoring the future, which is what Perry did. The third is honoring each other through our journey in this life. To me, those apply to everyone. To me, honor is not so much of a noun, like a thing or recognition. And it isnt an achievement. It is a verb. It is something we do in this world, in Gods creation and with each other.
Life is sometimes a very hard journey, and in honoring each other, we help each other. Honor is not so much a level or recognition we achieve, but rather a level of caring, of courage, and of faith, which we earn.
At West Holmes, NHS advisor Brian Dodd was busy welcoming a strong class of 34 students into the ranks of the NHS.
All of this years West Holmes inductees were juniors, a bit of a rarity. Included in the group were Kara Barnes, Hannah Boals, Amy Boyd, Shannon Brigotti, Rachel Cagle, Rebecca Chamberlain, Brynley Conway, Kaitlyn Currence, Cody Dial, Chandler Dial, Emily Ditmars, Sloan Le, Ashley Geiser, Joseph Gonzalez, Morgan Hawkins, Schyler Jones, Tory Kotewicz, Lacey Mays, Haley Moniger, Caitlyn Monter, Haley Meyer, Alyssa Miller, Michaela Miller, Mariah Oswalt, Nichole Peterman, Brittany Polen, Jenna Polen, Derek Reutter, Rachil Reynolds, Lynzie Richards, Leah Schonauer, Ashten Spencer, Andrew Vaccariello and Kori Weber.
West Holmes NHS advisor Brian Dodd said that while many people view the induction into the National Honor Society, it is far more than simply a matter of finding students who are super-intelligent.
I feel that this is one of the greatest honors a kid can get, because not only is it about them getting great grades, it is about the other three components of what NHS is all about, said Dodd. Its about leadership, and character and getting out in your community and doing works of service for others. NHS is one of the highest achievements for kids because it shows that they are well-rounded people.
Ive been pretty blessed to be able to work with these NHS kids over the years, and we have been fortunate at West Holmes because we have seen a really nice representation from all walks of life in high school. Weve seen kids from all kinds of organizations, athletics, clubs and with the highest of academic standards come through, and they all have one thing in common: They all show the ability to lead and extend themselves in whatever they are doing to excel.
Hilands group of inductees included Janelle Yoder, Nicky Yoder, Bobby Beachy, Sarah Milage, Bria Coil, Richie Mast, Caleb Raber, Meagan Hall, Jessica Gerber, Kaitlyn Yoder, Kammi Yoder, Jason Miller, Rebekka Strong, Irelie Riggle, Mason Yoder, Ryan Troyer, Joe Votaw, Cameron Mast, Spencer Yoder, Caleb Halfhill, Cole Reynolds, Lindsey Mast, Stephanie Milage, Zack Kornhaus, Ashley Schlabach, Kendra Schlabach, Eric Schlabach, Jaden Beachy, Noelle Miller, Kristi Schrock, Bryce Mast, Teddy Miller and Natasha Yoder.
