2017 GEMS Near-Peer Mentor (NPM) Selected as President of National Honor Society at Enterprise High School

Posted October 18th, 2017
Story & Photo by: Amy Baker, STEM Education Administrator

Julie Strickland, a near-peer mentor during the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory’s 2017 Gains in the Education of Mathematics and Science program, will be inducted as President of the National Honor Society at Enterprise High School Oct. 24.

During Strickland’s Forensics module near-peer mentorship, she led 24, 6th-7th graders through hands-on activities including fingerprinting, DNA testing, and bloodstain pattern analysis.

“During GEMS, Strickland demonstrated strong teaching skills, and brought to GEMS a positive personality that made her a great role model to the GEMS students,” said Dr. Amy Baker, USAARL’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education administrator.

GEMS is an extracurricular, STEM education program that enables students in grades 4-11 from the Wiregrass region of southeast Alabama to engage in hands-on experiments and to focus on STEM career fields. GEMS near-peer mentors lead the GEMS modules and serve as role models to the students by promoting science and math concepts and by acting as expert resources concerning college life and career pathways.

As National Honor Society president, Strickland will mainly be responsible for presiding over chapter meetings and activities as well as serving as an example for current members and future members. She will also collaborate with fellow officers and senior National Honor Society members for service project ideas during the 2017-2018 school year as a way to give back to the community.

The National Honor Society is the nation’s premier organization established to recognize high school students who excel in scholarship, service, leadership, and character. Since its inception in 1921, the organization has flourished with chapters in all 50 states and an estimated 1 million students having participated in National Honor Society activities. The organization highlights the students’ scholastic achievements while encouraging them to develop further in their leadership skills through school involvement and community service.

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