Sussex Academy SNHS Brings to End a Great Year (2024-2025)

By Keenan Williams (12 - Secretary), Alexandra DeEmedio (12 - President), Brianna Sordi (12 - Vice President),
Matthew Perchiniak (12 - Public Liason), Noah Benz (11 - Treasurer), Katya Geyer (11 - Historian)

The Sussex Academy Chapter of the Science National Honor Society is a program that has been at the school since the end of 2023. Bringing in new officers at the end of 2024, the society recently capped off a great 2024-2025 school year with a multitude of projects, service opportunities, and educational experiences for all 47 members of the chapter. At the start of 2025, we began the selection process for incoming members who submitted applications. We accepted 28 new members who demonstrated both academic excellence in general as well as a passion and drive to succeed in various science fields as well as advanced science courses offered at Sussex Academy. We conducted an induction ceremony on February 6th, 2025, celebrating all of these new members as well as emphasizing the values and creed of the Science National Honors Society.

We engaged many students in various educational opportunities by inviting speakers to the school and meeting with experts in various fields via Zoom to allow for students to gain exposure to fields they may potentially be interested in. In March of 2024, we invited Daniel Klopp, an expert from NASA to come speak about the design of spacesuits, from the ones NASA used in the Apollo missions to modern-day spacesuits. We then invited State Seed Scientist Lori Synder to speak about the science of seeds and their formation into plants. This event was held on Zoom, allowing for students to be flexible and for more people to tune in and learn about this topic. Both of these speakers were very informative and passionate about teaching students more about the subjects they were speaking about.

In April of 2025, the chapter also conducted a service project in which we went to Sussex Academy Elementary school and had students create learning materials and speak about biotic and abiotic factors in the environment surrounding us. We engaged them in several hands-on interactive activities that helped them understand these topics and gain a better grasp on the world around them.

Finally, each officer of the Sussex Academy chapter of the SNHS presented a lecture on a science-related topic of their choice. Our president Alexandra DeEmedio and vice president Brianna Sordi gave underclassmen advice about how to score high on both AP Chemistry and AP Environmental Science exams in their speeches. Our treasurer Noah Benz gave his about how to study for the AP Biology exam to get a 5, our secretary Keenan Williams gave his speech on the Environmental Issues facing our planet, and our Public Liaison Matthew Perchiniak and Historian Katya Geyer gave theirs on both how to get involved in science-related opportunities, research, service groups, internships and how to form your own science club. These presentations gave valuable insight to our members as well as other students in Sussex Academy about various scientific topics.

In the coming days, the Sussex Academy chapter of the SNHS plans to cap off the year with an end-of-year ceremony and an opportunity for potential new officers to run for a seat in the chapter for next year.