Letters to veterans and service members, a winter supplies drive and a children’s books drive are opportunities the 2020-2021 officers of the St. Pius X High School Chapter of the National Honor Society have created to help NHS members serve their community despite the restrictions of COVID-19.

This school year’s NHS officers, all seniors, are President Juliana Trujillo, Vice President Dominic Sais, Secretary Nora Hennessy and Treasurer Monica Penn. The officers were installed at a masked, socially-distant ceremony on campus on Oct. 2, where they accepted their leadership positions and inducted 48 new members. Since then the officers have held a Zoom meeting of all the members, 105 of them, and launched three service projects. 

“Our first meeting went really well,” Sais said. “People were more engaged than I expected; they asked a lot of questions.”

“Our goals are to serve the community and make an impact through service projects,” added Hennessy. “The outcomes so far have been great. We collected over 300 letters for Veterans Day.”

NHS asked St. Pius X students to join in writing letters to veterans thanking them for their service. Trujillo acquired a list of veterans and mailed the 300 letters in time for Veteran’s Day. Some recipients were so touched by the letters from St. Pius students that they shared them on their own social media sites.

“The involvement in our first project makes me hopeful for our upcoming projects,” Hennessy said. “I am so proud of what we have been able to accomplish together as a community despite the circumstances.”

Sais looks forward to the upcoming book drive for the University of New Mexico Children’s Hospital. “This is the project I have had the most responsibility for,” said Sais, who coordinated the book drive with the hospital. “I have always enjoyed reading, and I hope I can share that love with the children of UNM children’s hospital. 

“This isn’t just a hard time for students,” he added. “The corona virus creates a difficult time for everybody, especially those who are ill and need medical care. It’s important that we help them get through this time.”

Hennessy said NHS also plans a winter supplies drive for coats, hats, socks and other warm clothing in coordination with the KOAT-TV Koats for Kids project.

Sais said one of the difficulties of a virtual service club lies in getting the word out to all students about NHS projects, which normally would be done through school announcements, hallway posters and face-to-face. “But through our social media accounts we’ve been able to advertise our projects pretty well so far,” he said.

Hennessy and Sais said attending a virtual senior year and participating in only as much as they can remotely has been difficult. 

“Things are going well, but could be better,” said Hennessy, who plans to study business or pre-dentistry and apply to UNM, UCLA and Notre Dame. “This uncertain time is hard on everyone. As I continue my college search, it’s hard to stay focused on school with everything being online. I miss being able to see my friends and teachers. I miss the learning environment that the classroom provides and being able to ask my teachers questions in the moment.”

“It’s not ideal,” added Sais, who plans to study computer science and apply at Case Western Reserve University, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. “I miss my friends and playing football.”

Despite the challenges, Hennessy has kept a sense of humor: “I like that it’s a short trip to school, and I have more free time in the afternoons.”