A new honor society at Bound Brook High School is providing students with scholarship, leadership, and literacy opportunities – all of which will help them in their future college or career paths. 

The Bound Brook chapter of the National English Honor Society first took root last year when Mrs. Marissa Jadrosich-Forgét, a teacher in the BBHS English Department, was inspired by her love of English and her experience with honor societies.  

After collaborating with Miss Megan Foster, who was also an honor society student and now teaches English at BBHS, both teachers contacted the national organization, their Humanities department supervisor, and Principal Smith for all the necessary planning and permissions for starting a club. 

Today, Mrs. Forgét and Miss Foster serve as co-advisors for the organization that aims to provide students with opportunities while improving lives for the wider Bound Brook community through literacy intervention programs and community service initiatives. 

BBHS offers several academic honor societies, including the Computer Science Honor Society, National Art Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, and Spanish National Honor Society. 

After holding an interest meeting last year with over 50 students in attendance, the Sigma Tau Delta Chapter at the Bound Brook High School was chartered this past October when the inaugural class of members were officially instated.  

The class of 31 students, with an E-board of 6 members, has already completed an initial fundraiser and is actively working on creating an interscholastic reading program to promote improved literacy across the district. This includes developing a partnership with the Bound Brook Public Library and fostering opportunities to peer tutor within the district’s ELL classrooms. 

As a new Honor Society, members are currently building the foundations necessary for the future success of the organization.  

“In the future, we plan on having our members engage more with their community, with one example having our members go to both Smalley and Lafayette to be a ‘reading buddy’ to those students,” said Emanuel Munoz, a BBHS junior who serves as the vice president of the chapter. “These activities/events allow me and the other members to strengthen our interest and skills in English by allowing us to communicate with the younger students and help them in any problems they have related to reading or writing.” 

Sara Thiessen, a BBHS senior who serves as the president of the chapter, also highlights the activities planned for their organization. “These events will only strengthen my love for literature because now that there is a set chapter just for language and writing, I get to share this love of English with my peers and the youth in our community. I believe that this new chapter will be a great service to our community because literature, language, and writing is such a key foundation to any person in their life and it should be celebrated, not looked over.” 

Miss Foster and Mrs. Forgét emphasize the importance of the chapter going forward, especially what it means for students as they leave their mark and eventually graduate from the district. 

“One of the things we are most excited about is giving these students a way to build an organization that can be their legacy that they can look back on as they leave Bound Brook High School; which will help contribute to the academic growth and success of the school and community,” said Mrs. Forgét.  

Miss Foster added, “We are impressed that the students are already so passionate in this organization. The Sigma Tau Delta chapter is something that they are already so proud of, and it will serve as a legacy for each and every student as they fondly remember the times they walked the Bound Brook hallways. Their love and dedication to language and literacy will carry these esteemed students through life and help them to take advantage of every future opportunity. We are excited to be mentors to such a fantastic group of scholars and are excited for the future of the English Honors Society.” 

Students who are interested in joining the National English Honor Society should be a junior or a senior in good standing at the high school and have a 3.0 GPA or higher (specifically in English). 

Applications will be available each May for students. Accepted students are initiated in June.