College Launches Unique Program for NHS High School Students

Westminster College is launching a program for National Honor Society members that is specifically designed to make their transition from high school to college easier by integrating academic work, participation in events and interaction with faculty mentors and peers. Home to a vibrant honors program and to an outstanding chapter of the Alpha Chi National Honor Society, Westminster College expresses its historical commitment to academic excellence and leadership by reaching out to a community of high-achieving students and allowing them to experience first hand the best that we have to offer.

The program includes a one-credit leadership seminar (LST 100), titled “Breakthrough,” and opportunities for students to complete their 25 hours of service required for NHS membership. Our signature campus lectures and activities, such as the Hancock Symposium, the C.S. Lewis Lecture, a Model U.N. simulation and the Undergraduate Scholars Forum, are interwoven into the fabric of the course through response and reflection papers. In order to ensure full accessibility to the program, these events will be livestreamed for students who cannot travel, although we strongly encourage them to visit the campus.

Being a highly selective program doesn’t make “Breakthrough” financially prohibitive: It is actually free. Students are awarded a full-tuition scholarship with some additional funding (needs based) available to cover the cost of travel to and from the Westminster campus. Upon completion of the leadership seminar, they get an official transcript. Students will also benefit from completing the StrengthsQuest Assessment and receiving career advice from our counselors at the Student Success Center.

Breakthrough is open to all current high school NHS students who can take it their junior year, senior year or both. Students interested in the program should contact their NHS advisor or go to wcmo.edu/nhs. To apply, students need to A) be in junior or senior status and members of NHS; B) complete the application form found here; C) provide two recommendations by the NHS advisor and a faculty member; D) submit all materials no later than January 1, 2020. For more information, please contact Dr. Ingrid Ilinca, Associate Dean of Student Success, at [email protected] or (573) 592-5323.