Have you heard of the National Honor Society? Probably. What about the National Business Honor Society? Probably not.
Before school on November 13th, twelve students underwent an induction to become National Business Honor Society members. Among them were four juniors and eight seniors.
Since 2012, when a chapter of NBHS first began at Prior Lake High School, several students have become members each year after applying. The opportunity to apply for membership is offered to students who are enrolled in or have completed at least three of the offered PLHS business classes, and who have a minimum cumulative GPA and a 3.5 GPA in business classes.
Mrs. Rutt, a business educator who is currently in the middle of her 19th year teaching at Prior Lake, has been involved with the society for all 11 years.
After being asked what she thought was interesting about the society when she first found out about it, Mrs. Rutt said, “We didn’t have any way to recognize business students before, so we liked that it was a way to recognize students who took a lot of business classes and did well in them. We really just jumped on the idea when the National Business Education Association came out with it. We got right on board the first year it was offered to us.”
The National Business Education Association, or NBEA, sponsors Prior Lake’s National Business Honor Society, giving the status and membership for the year. In 2012, Prior Lake High School was the only group in the state of Minnesota that was involved. Currently, it seems that NBEA is working on trying to grow membership even more throughout the state.
As for the goals of the National Business Education Association and National Business Honor Society, Mrs. Rutt believes, “It’s about service and character.”
However, she also feels there is another huge goal of providing recognition to students who deserve it. “As you know, we have this huge school with lots of groups of students. Not a lot of those students are recognized outside of Student Council or National Honor Society — the big things. There are lots of other groups of students who don’t get the recognition that they should, so this is just a way to recognize that niche area.”
According to Mrs.Rutt, “Although the main goal is to recognize business students, we do a little bit of service work. We’ve done Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army each year, and it’s fun because you never know what you’re going to get as people walk by.”
Fun experiences aside from entertaining service opportunities have been NBHS field trips to a variety of places: the Marriot at the Mall of America, Red Wing Shoes, and Xcel Energy Center.
Field trips aside, the NBHS also welcomes various guest speakers from different fields to share their knowledge. For example, past speakers include those with careers in marketing, finance, banking, and entrepreneurship.
If forced to choose, Mrs. Rutt felt that her least favorite part of the National Business Honor Society would be trying to find those guest speakers. Luckily, the officers are usually asked to find guest speakers. This way, members can learn from a speaker they find interesting, and Mrs. Rutt can avoid the difficult task of guessing what students would care to hear about.
After being asked about her favorite parts of the National Business Honor Society, Mrs. Rutt said, “I love the meetings every month, and of course, I love that the students get recognized at graduation.”
Another favorite part of hers is the amount of members. “I love that it’s a small group. It really is kind of nice that it isn’t a large group, so I can then get to know the students a little bit better. We usually have about 20 members, and I feel like that’s just the right size.”
Fortunately, Mrs. Rutt hopes to be involved with NBHS, “For as long as they have it.”
If it interests you, take some business classes and then consider applying to the National Business Honor Society next fall for the 2024-2025 school year!
