Twenty-three high school students were inducted into Mount Carmel School’s Sacred Heart Chapter of the National Honor Society in a ceremony held on Friday, March 12, 2021, at Mount Carmel Cathedral. 

The ceremony was led by Bishop Ryan P. Jimenez, school administrators, and society officers.

The inductees were selected by a faculty council that reviewed applications from sophomores and upperclassmen who had maintained a grade point average of 3.0 and had demonstrated how they had fulfilled the society’s values of scholarship, service, leadership, and character.

This year’s inductees are Robin Alvarez, Kyla Cabrera, Moeisha Cruz, Kina Dela Cruz, Gerald Deleon Guerrero Jr., Raven Driver, Raymalyn Guanlao, Brissa Hunter, Hannah Lacap, Raeka Lantin, Jill Mallari, Donnie Militante, Brent Ortizo, Christian Palattao, Manuel Pangelinan, Kayannie Peter, Keunyce Regalado, Aubriana Sablan, Mathew Sablan, Derek Sasamoto, Yuri Sasamoto, Richard Steele, and Joshua Tenorio. 

The keynote speaker for the ceremony was AlumKnight Ms. Christine Fitial Saunders, who also serves as a recent faculty member teaching English and Literature.

In her speech, Christine shared the importance of honor and that the definition of honor means more than maintaining high grades. “I would define honor as a high respect for oneself that others recognize in you. Let’s break that down, shall we? Honor is high respect for oneself, meaning the respect you have for yourself. You respect yourself so much that you make sure that there is honor in everything that you do – whether it be at school, at home, or in online platforms. Now, the second part of my definition is “that others recognize in you”. This means that, because you imbue so much honor that it emanates from your actions, the people around you see the honor in you. NHS inductees, you are here because your leadership, service and character are coated in honor. And it is only right that you are individually recognized today.”

In his opening remarks, school president, Galvin Deleon Guerrero, EdD, thanked parents for supporting their children and congratulated the students for their accomplishment. He also encouraged them to reconsider how they think about discipline. Referring to times when he was disciplined in school, he noted, “Beyond punishment, we must think of discipline in broader terms: as how to control from within, instead of being controlled from without; the focused student that academic disciplines call for; and remembering that the root word of discipline, disciple, reminds us all that we are followers of Christ.” He concluded, “When you achieve that kind of discipline, anything is possible.”

Established in 1921, the National Honor Society is the nation’s premier organization that recognizes outstanding high school students, with more than one million student members who demonstrate the society’s trademark values of scholarship, leadership, service, and character. Mount Carmel School’s Sacred Heart Chapter of the NHS was opened in 1997.