The Honors Project is a club started this year by juniors Matias Silveira, Michael Carroll, Sean Schneeberg, and Derek Silva.
All four of these young men have had previous (or future) leadership experience. Matias and Michael are a part of the Rocket Ambassador program, where they help to guide new students through changes in the school. Derek is a captain for the 2024-25 season for winter track, and Sean works with young kids at the Little Treasures preschool.
According to Silveira, the mission of The Honors Project is simple. “It’s to help students give back to the community by working with places to provide volunteering opportunities.” Matias said that the first step of the process is to reach out to the coordinator of the organization and schedule a meeting with them. “After that we receive and put together volunteer application forms that members can fill out.” The club has seen a lot of success so far in collaborating with local institutions, such as the YMCA, Reading Public Library, and Coolidge Middle School.
This system has worked very well so far in engaging people to volunteer. “Currently we have about 20 people on our Remind classroom and about 60 followers on Instagram,” said Silveira. However, they are not satisfied with this number, and would like to see an increase so they can supply these organizations with a greater number of volunteers. The group measures their success by the number of students they can get connected with and the number of organizations that they can connect those students with.
The Honors Project not only helps people who are looking to get volunteer hours for NHS, but also for those who genuinely love volunteering or just want to be around their friends. “I joined a little for hours but also because I like working with my friends and doing things that help others,” said club member Owen Forrest (’25). “It is a great group and it allows you to make more connections with people in the town, which could be helpful later if you are looking for a job.”
Expansion is something that is very important to the success of the club. “In the future, we would like to partner with more organizations such as the nearby soup kitchens and the MSPCA Animal Shelter,” claimed Silveira.
If you would like to join the Honors Project, the club typically meets on Tuesday mornings. Join the Remind with code @rmhshonpro.
