(Courtesy photo by Fred Booth Elementary)
By PETE BANDA
Special to the NEWS
At the end of last school year, SBCISD board members stressed to campus leaders a desire to create a National Honor Society at each of the 12 elementary schools within the district.
While a few schools already took part in the program, several others immediately began the process of recruiting potential scholars for their inaugural class. For Fred Booth Elementary, the introduction of the National Honor Society is a roaring success with one community outreach program in the books and two more currently underway.
The National Honor Society is one of the oldest and most widely recognized student organizations in America, say academic leaders. In 2008, The National Association of Elementary School Principals introduced the first Elementary School Honor Society and the program was slowly built into an extremely popular and successful organization.
When SBCISD top officials began encouraging elementary principals to spearhead the National Elementary Honor Society in San Benito, Gabrielle Ocumarez quickly advised her third and fourth grade teachers to nominate potential scholars. One year later, those now fourth and fifth graders have exceeded every expectation and wrapped up their first of big project last month with a can drive to benefit the San Benito Food pantry.
Ocumarez, who is now in her second year as a principal with the district, has been helping to oversee the program this year. According to her, nearly 20 students have been participating all year with hopes that the Society continues to grow.
“The students have really enjoyed this program, and it’s been amazing seeing their effort all year,” said Ocumarez. “It’s only the first year of us having this program, but our students are completely dedicated, and I’ve been honored to be a part of it.”
The first project the group completed was a Thanksgiving can drive benefiting the San Benito Food Pantry. After collecting hundreds of cans, Food Pantry President Forest Walker was invited to the school to receive the donation. The experience is one that the students say brought pure gratification.
“It feels very special to be a part of this, and seeing the impact our hard work has on the community is something I will appreciate even more as I get older,” said fourth grader Michael Camarez. “I am excited to continue doing these kinds of projects.”
The group of scholars is currently working on two projects for December. The first is a traditional toy drive where students and staff sponsors will be looking for donations from the community as well as bringing in new toys themselves. The second community project involves student scholars making “no-sew” blankets for chemotherapy patients.
For the no-sew blankets, students are taking donated fleece blankets and joining them together through a process that involves cutting strips on the side of two blankets and knotting them together. The students have been meeting every Thursday afternoon to churn out as many blankets as possible before ultimately donating them to the Texas Oncology Center in Harlingen.
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