From AP classes to athletics to college applications to just spending time with friends and family, students’ schedules are compact and they rarely have time to breathe. For senior, Will Charlesworth, not only these are crammed into his schedule but also National Honor Society.

National Honor Society is a club at Blue Valley Southwest that capitalizes on leadership skills and serving the community.

Charlesworth not only is taking three AP classes but he also is busy filling out college applications for schools such as Colorado School of Mines, Georgia Tech and Loughborough University in the UK.

He is also involved on an indoor soccer team and always makes time to spend with those that he is close with. He also manages to balance NHS into that roller coaster of activities.

“Not only does National Honor Society look good on my college applications, but it also gives me a chance to improve my leadership skills,” Charlesworth said.

National Honor Society has a variety of community service opportunities that it is involved with such as Johnson County Christmas Bureau and Harvesters.

It also does a variety of service within the walls of Southwest such as assisting with Homecoming decorations.

“I joined because it was a community service organization other than student council,” senior Matara Hitchcock said.

Many different steps go into joining National Honor Society. The application includes a submission form which lists all the classes the student is taking, list of community service hours, list of school activities the student is involved with and essay describing how they would contribute to the NHS chapter.

Associate Director of NHS, David Cordts, explains the four criteria for students to join NHS: scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

“It is up to local chapters to define them,” Cordts said.

National Honor Society’s main goals are to promote leadership and service and also create and build character within the members of NHS.

“NHS is a prestigious group and works hard to help out our community,” Charlesworth said.

National Honor Society also works at local schools such as Stillwell Elementary to do the various work needed to be done there.

Even with the excess of work on Charlesworth’s shoulders, National Honor Society is still a priority in his life and in the lives of other students involved.