Steinbrenner English teacher Rebecca Stewart has recently assumed the responsibility of sponsoring one of the most populated clubs on campus, the National Honors Society (NHS). Long run by Beverley Jarrett, who retired last year, the NHS is now facing new leadership for the first time in school history.
“Mrs. King had asked me if sponsoring NHS would be something I was interested in, and so I thought being the sponsor would be a great opportunity to get more involved at Steinbrenner and help give back to the community” said Stewart.
Stewart is looking forward to being the new sponsor of NHS. Alongside her, the school anticipates the impacts of her new leadership. As with any new leader, changes will occur.
“The process for NHS is definitely going to be changed a little bit because I teach classes all day and don’t have a planning period. I also teach Dual Enrollment English; which I have realized I will not be able to do next year since I now have such a huge responsibility as the NHS sponsor,” said Stewart.
During this transitional phase, Stewart is learning tons of new things about NHS. Although, Stewart was not able to learn the club sponsoring processes from her predecessor, she is guided and informed by the NHS student council.
“I am just in the beginning stages of setting up things for NHS, although since I didn’t know Ms. Jarrett at all, I’m not really sure how she ran NHS. But I am very lucky to have Jacqueline Hahn as my president and she has been very informative” said Stewart.
Sponsoring NHS is not the only leadership position Stewart has held. Stewart has built up a background of leading other with her prior leadership position as a team leader at Ben Hill Middle School.
“I’d say the closest experience that I have to sponsoring such a large club would be my experience as the eighth-grade team leader at Ben Hill. As the team leader, I put together a lot of field trips and other events. I’d say that my position there was similar to being a club sponsor in some senses” said Stewart.
Yet, there is a large variation between high school honors students and middle school field trips. Her students know that she will do great job as the new sponsor.
Gretchen Strunk // Staff Writer
