By R. Kurt Osenlund, Bucks Local News

Two of the local prep school’s National Honor Society inductees hail from Pennington.

The Pennington School (TPS) inducted 28 students into the Tri-Steps Chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) during a ceremony held at the independent, coeducational prep school’s Lecture Center on Wednesday, Nov. 18.

According to Melissa Kiser, public relations director and English teacher at TPS, the center was full of parents, family members and other students who turned out to cheer on the inductees, 18 of whom are seniors, 10 of whom are juniors, and two of whom, William Hawkey and Carly Gurick, are Pennington residents.

“All of the students inducted meet various criteria not only for their grades but for community service, leadership qualities and character,” says Kiser, who taught both Hawkey, a senior, and Gurick, a junior, in Freshman Honors English. “William is a good student but also a good soccer player – he’s been on the varsity soccer team since ninth grade. And Carly is also a fine athlete – she’s been on the varsity swim team since freshman year and also swims outside of school.”

Kiser says that both Hawkey and Gurick are “lifers” at TPS, meaning they’ve been attending classes full-time at the local institution since sixth grade. Along with the other inductees, the two students were chosen by a committee of faculty members who consider all the qualities listed above before making their decisions. (Incidentally, both Hawkey and Kiser are children of TPS staff members – Hawkey’s father, William Sr., is the Associate Head of School, and Carly’s father, Bernard, teaches mathematics.)

The other selected students hail from Burlington, Ewing, Hamilton, Lawrenceville, Plainsboro, Princeton, Ringoes, parts of Pennsylvania, New York, even China and Korea. The other seniors include Carlye John Armstrong, Coleman Betlyon, Grant Cohen, Daniel Connors, Ashley Disbrow, James Ehret, Donghyeok Heo, Sueng Hui Ju, Hannah Knudsen, Charles Merrick, Donald Nuzzio, Sarah Oppenheim, Dean Psomaras, Dillon Sternkopf, Courtney Stewart, Chelsea Totaro and Xiaoyu Wang. The other juniors include Ji Ho Ahn, Vaclav Barina, Cody Cotner, Anita Dam, Stephanie Moses, Oliver Pimley, Andrea Ricketti, Alix Samuel and Elise Zarelli-Dorsey.

In regard to the international students, Kiser – who previously taught various communication skills in TPS’s Center for Learning, and for whom 2009 marks 27 years of affiliation with the school – says that TPS has a long history of welcoming students from other countries. This year, the student body includes citizens from 16 countries outside the U.S., such as Taiwan, Russia, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Sweden and South Africa. Some of these students, Kiser says, live nearby, but most of them take advantage of the room and board offered at TPS.

“The Pennington School provides an opportunity for international students to join a rigorous academic program in a comparatively small academic community,” Kiser says. “(The students) can work in a language that is not their first language, experience life in the United States and prepare for an academic career at a competitive college in the U.S. or in their own countries.”

A few of the NHS inductees were also chosen to join other honor societies in addition to the Tri-Steps Chapter. Those students who “overlapped,” as Kiser says, also became members of such distinguished groups as the National German, French, Spanish or Latin Honor Societies; the theatre-focused International Thespian Society; the National Art Honor Society; and/or the National Music Honor Society.

Of the Tri-Steps Chapter, Kiser says it originated in the early 20th century, back when TPS was still an all-boys school. Formerly dubbed “Gateways,” the highly selective program was named for the three archways that used to stand on the campus, and were themselves inspired by those at Keys College in Cambridge, England. “Honor, Virtue and Humility,” read the archways, which, although no longer standing, can still be found on the campus, as the inscribed concrete slabs have been formed into benches that rest in front of the Meckler Library. The meaning of those three words also remains intact, and when “Gateways” became affiliated with NHS and became the Tri-Steps Chapter, so too did the words carry over as cornerstones, so to speak, of the program.

“The (NHS) inductions and the inductions to various other (NHS groups) impress me each year with the quality and range of students we have at (TPS),” Kiser says. “I’m always impressed with the number of activities (the students) are involved in while still maintaining excellent academic records. We are all, of course, very proud of them.”

The Pennington School is located at 112 W. Delaware Ave. in Pennington. Visit The Pennington School online at www.pennington.org.