Article by Phoenix writer Keira Quigley ’26:
This year, the National Honor Society seniors went through the Red Blanket Project, an organization that builds water tanks in Kenya, for their service mission.
NHS set a goal to raise enough money to build 2 tanks and fill them with water. Thousands of dollars from hundreds of donors were able to afford 10 tanks in total, quintupling the original goal. They helped nine villages and were even able to help a Kenyan orphanage who’s water tank recently broke.
The National Honor Society, run by Mr. Kennedy, elects Senior officers every year. There are also senior NHS coordinators who plan and orchestrate events throughout the year, including this service mission. The officers and coordinators organize the service mission, set goals, advertise it through social media, and collect the money.
Mr. Kennedy says, “Kellenberg NHS students made what some would say is the biggest significant change in a life you can make, and they touched thousands of lives. There are now children who don’t have to want something that we have so accessible here.”
In addition to the yearly service mission, the 10 NHS coordinators are responsible for organizing tutoring cards, helping at events, and helping to reach out to other students. One of the coordinators, Mika Accardi, says, “I have such an admiration for our service project. Knowing that the water tanks will be saving lives and that my fellow NHS members and I were able to help is such an honor. I loved how all the NHS members were able to come together to accomplish our goal. I can’t wait to see the positive impact this service project has.”
Brendan Spear, one of the NHS elected officers, says, “The service project was so important to our community as well as the villages that we were able to help. Changing their lives gave us a new perspective on ours.”
This was such an important service mission that the NHS had this year, and Kellenberg is very lucky to have gotten such a great opportunity to change thousands of lives.
