Artists have the potential to impact others in a way that not many people can. Too often these artists don’t have a wide base of people that share their same interests, like sports and academics do. Thankfully a program exists that gives recognition to the young artists with a skill and a passion for art.

National Art Honors Society is a program for high schoolers that was started in 1978 by the National Art Education Association. There is also a National Junior Art Honors Society for students in junior high.

The requirements for getting into NAHS are to be a 10th-12th grader, have completed one trimester of art, have a B+ average, and to overall have a good attitude.

As well as giving acknowledgement to artistic students, NAHS provides service to the community. At Apple Valley, the NAHS kids do face painting at a variety of events, make heart pins to raise money around Valentine’s Day, paint murals in the school, and paint windows at the post office. They each need six hours of community service.

“It was very fun and eye opening. I got to know a lot of people I never would have known,” said NAHS Secretary Heidi Le.

NAHS also participates in four major art shows every year: the Scholastic Art Competition, the South Suburban Conference Visual Art Competition, Best 100 Visual Art Competition, and the Second Congressional District Art Competition.

The club meets every other Wednesday after school to plan for these events. Average meetings usually go 20 to 30 minutes. “Meetings serve as an opportunity to give out information and remind the students about different activities,” said NAHS advisor Christiane Porter.

Although Porter is the advisor, NAHS is really a student-led organization. There are three leadership positions: president, vice president, and secretary. This year, two go to SES and one to AVHS. These leaders take notes during meetings, record hours, plan different activities, and basically run the meetings.

“I think it’s important that art kids are able to be connected with other art kids and that they get an opportunity to further their art experiences,” said Porter.

Art gives students the opportunity to express themselves, and NAHS is a perfect for anyone who has a passion for art and a desire to help the community. Heidi Le says, “I think anyone who likes art should join. It’s a fun group of people to help you step outside your comfort zone.” With this opportunity, students can not only participate in activities that they are interested in, but meet others who share the same interests.

NAHS student Nan Nongnuang said, “Art is about what’s inside. Anyone can be good at art.”