National Honor Society Sponsor: Kyle Monk

Film teacher Kyle Monk took over as the National Honor Society (NHS) faculty sponsor in January, providing mentorship to an organization that recognizes the academic achievements of Akins students and encourages them to engage in community service.

Monk said he volunteered to serve as the sponsor because of his experience in the NHS when he was in high school.

“NHS was my thing when I was in high school.” he said. “I was in NHS as a freshman at my school which was super weird, and I was president for 3 years. “So I really love the NHS and I know the value it has, how valuable the experience you get, so I was expected to be able to give that back to Akins.”

Monk said his role as the NHS sponsor is to serve a mentor for students who tend to be highly motivated.

“So I’m really there to guide them, kind of act as a sounding board for their service or leadership ideas, that kind of thing, and there to navigate the backend of things such as the paperwork and administrative stuff which is a big part of it.”

Monk said he is also there to cultivate the four pillars of NHS values: character, service, leadership, and scholarship. Involvement in the NHS also provides access to scholarship opportunities.

In the future, Monk said he hopes to help Akins NHS members to attend national conferences and create some “signature Akins NHS events” so they have more a name as opposed to this ‘Oh yeah NHS is here, they do service,’” he said.

“(I’m) specifically looking at how we can give back to Akins and the different populations here, and help NHS members to cultivate and grow with the skills that they have learn. So really bringing Akins home and then looking at how we can impact our direct community.”