History of National Arts Honors Society
By Katalina Y.
It has been over a whopping 40 years since the National Arts Honors Society was established
back in 1978 by the National Art Education Association (NAEA) for High School students, according to the National Arts Honors Society (NAHS) website. NAHS serves to open a variety of opportunities for High School students all around the U.S. to hone in on their artistic abilities in the real world through a variety of fun activities.
As of today, it has been 7 years since Mountain Range started working with NAHS all the way back in 2019. Art teacher, Miss Colleen Dowling, runs the National Arts Honor Society for MRHS. Miss Dowling can be found in room D127 on every fourth Wednesday of the month from 3:20PM to 4PM after school.
National Arts Honors Society includes sponsored events like the Empty Bowls Fundraiser for the Food Bank of the Rockies in February each year. According to the official Empty Bowls website, funds raised by students go to feeding people who have little to no access to food. Students can raise money by creating ceramic bowls and putting them up at art shows both in and out of the MRHS campus. NAHS also promotes donations for art projects, art workshops, and more.
Members of NAHS can gain college and career preparation, eligibility for art awards, publications on NAHS news, opportunities to submit their artwork for art galleries, and more provided on the Honors Society website. “As a club, we constantly strive to find new and innovative ways to implement art into our everyday lives through on-site events, large scale projects, and community service.” says the National Arts Honors Society.
The requirements to become an official member of the National Arts Honors Society is to be a Highschool student with a “B” average in other subjects with a minimum of a 1 year credit in Art, although it can differ from school to school.
“MRHS has a huge art department compared to other schools in Colorado. I wanted to offer students who may not be able to take an art class a way to be involved in the arts at MRHS.” Art teacher and leader of NAHS in MRHS, Miss Colleen Dowling, says. She strives to create a place where students can freely express themselves while also being
able to clock in community service hours.
Miss Dowling recalls how NAHS teamed up with the Ceramics 2 class back in 2022 to create ceramic donuts as an April fools joke. NAHS put the donuts in boxes and placed them in the staff lounge to fool the staff and students. The ceramic donuts can still be found around the school as of today as a memory of the collaboration.
Additionally, NAEA also offers a National Junior Art Honor Society for students in grade 6-8 that are not in high school. This program was established in 1989 by the NAEA, a whole 11 years after NAHS was established. The benefits given are similar for members of NAHS, however some programs like the Rising Stars Secondary Program Award and specific scholarships are closed off, having only been reserved for Juniors and Seniors in High School. It is said that members of the National Junior Art Honor Society are able to switch to NAHS once they move on to High School if they are nominated.
Even though the NAHS program in MRHS started in 2019, it continues to stand strong and is always open to more members who are interested in joining the club.
