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To the editor:

On Tuesday, Oct. 27, Davie High School held  an induction into the National Honor Society for 43  juniors and seniors.  Probably some of you didn’t know that as it was not widely publicized. In fact, some of the high school teachers didn’t even know until the next day. The NHS induction was held inside the high school building at 5:30 p.m.  No one was allowed to attend, not even one parent.

This was a momentous event in the life of the students who were being inducted. You might say that it was a pretty big deal – a once-in-a-lifetime event even. One which will never happen again.  Since no one was allowed to attend, there were no pictures taken of the students receiving their certificates of induction. That moment in time was stolen from the inductees and is gone forever, like a thief in the night.

Apparently the school administrators didn’t think it was a big deal because the certificate given to the student had only their name on it. There was a place for the date as well as the place where the ceremony took place, but that was left blank.   

I spoke via telephone with Davie High principal, Mr. Doyle Nicholson, and expressed my concern about the lack of parental attendance at the NHS induction. He put the blame on Covid-19. I suggested that perhaps it could have been handled much like graduation was this past May.   Covid-19 was a factor then as it continues to be now. Mr. Nicholson was not receptive to that idea and advised that graduation was so expensive and time consuming and it just couldn’t be done for the NHS induction. Our conversation turned into a screaming match. I don’t remember exactly who hung up on who.

  We’re talking 43 students. How expensive and time consuming could it be to put a table outside to hold the certificates, have the students come forward when their name was called, receive their certificate, and then turn toward their parents who would be driving by with a camera to snap a picture of their child receiving such a prestigious  honor?  An honor which happened on Oct. 27, 2020, and will never happen again. A one-time-only event at Davie High School for these 43 students.  An event which is now history, not documented in the family album by even one picture.

  I was reminded by Mr. Nicholson that it was live-streamed. Well, yes it was. However,  the student could not be seen actually receiving their certificate. The only thing one could see was the student walking in front of the camera for about 1 second as they were on their way out of the building. Obviously, there was no thought at all about camera placement. Guess that would have been too expensive and time consuming as well.

In closing I want to say that I feel that the 43 Davie High School National Honor Society inductees of 2020 were given the short end of the proverbial stick. I, for one, am proud of and congratulate each and every one of you for a job very well done.  Keep up the good work.

Mona Potts

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