Students at Chamblee enjoy giving back to their community in the form of volunteering. Not only does it look great on a college resume, but events can be a fun weekend activity to do with friends. 

There are countless volunteer-related clubs at Chamblee, so the choice can be rather daunting. From Beta Club and NHS [National Honor Society] to UNICEF and HoPe [Hispanic Organization Promoting Education], it can be hard to choose the right organization for you, but a list can guide you into the right direction to what organizations fit you best.

Beta Club and National Honor Society

At Chamblee, the two largest volunteer clubs are National Honor Society and Beta Club. They both require a specific amount of volunteer hours each semester to participate. The differences between them are sparse, but Beta Club does require fewer hours than NHS. 

“[Beta Club and NHS] are definitely really similar,” said Beta Club treasurer Elizabeth Green (‘22). “NHS just has more requirements. I do notice that Beta Club is just a little easier to participate in events with your friends and stuff like that, if that’s what you like to do. I think NHS has more individual stuff.” 

With Beta Club having fewer required hours, it is more accessible for students who want to participate in a large volunteer group but might not have the time to complete 20 volunteer hours a semester, the minimum for NHS. 

Additionally, both Beta Club and NHS have a minimum GPA requirement and NHS specifically requires a statement of purpose from the student. Hours for one club will not count for the other, so so-called “double-dipping” is banned. 

Interact Club

If hour-oriented volunteering is not appealing, there are clubs, such as Interact Club, that participate in similar projects without any GPA or hour requirements. 

“I think the thing that Interact does that sets us apart from other clubs is that we try to make sure that our service opportunities have a clear and definite impact on our community,” said Interact president Andrew Pietkiewicz (‘22). “So that means we’re not just trying to find events so that people can get hours, we’re more designed towards making an impact.”

Interact is for more specific foundations or causes that individual students are passionate about. 

“You can pick and choose when to volunteer,” said Pietkiewicz. “So if there’s events that don’t interest you or you’re too busy to volunteer, you don’t have to volunteer. But if you want to get really involved, you can get really involved very easily.” 

For those who want to do even more specific volunteer work, there are honor societies tailored towards art, music, and German language and culture.

National Art Honor Society

National Art Honor Society looks to give back to the community with its own creative twists.

“[Free Art Fridays] are one of our biggest things recently. We just distribute art and everyone comes together and makes two pieces of art. We put them out around the school every couple of Fridays,” said Carly Aitken (‘22), an NAHS officer.

NAHS is composed of artists around Chamblee who use their artistic abilities for volunteering. 

“We do a lot of volunteer opportunities outside of just community service,” said Aitken. “So it’s all artistic-based stuff, like making stuff for the community and kind of giving back to the arts culture.”

German National Honor Society

German National Honor Society is not as rigorous as the other NHS clubs, as it doesn’t require hours like NHS or NAHS. It is the only language-based honors club in the school and focuses on all things German. 

“It’s different from National Honor Society because we incorporate German, which I think is a cool little twist on it,” said German NHS vice president Alex Jovanovic (‘22). 

Their primary focus is on tutoring and keeping the German language fresh in students’ minds. 

“So for German NHS, one volunteer thing that we like to focus on is helping tutor younger students from [Chamblee] Middle School, Kittredge, and other German-speaking or German learning schools throughout the county,” said Jovanovic. 

Tri-M

Similarly, Tri-M, the only music-based student honor society in the U.S., seeks to have its members spread music knowledge.

“One of the things that we did last year, and we’re also doing this year, is to do a peer tutor program for local elementary and middle school students. So we connect students who play the same instrument and they provide lessons and advice for playing,” said volunteer Langley McEntyre (‘22). 

Tri-M does require hours, but only a manageable five per semester. 

UNICEF Club

Chamblee UNICEF Club is similar in intent to other volunteering organizations but has a large scope.

“UNICEF is more focused on child relief work and child advocacy work, so we don’t necessarily do a lot of volunteering, but more so like drives and fundraising, and a lot of our causes just happen to be international causes,” said Chamblee UNICEF president Nishat Nayla (’22).

HoPe

HoPe is a club specifically focused on supporting the Hispanic community both in and out of school. 

“I would say it’s a volunteer club, and then also to spread awareness and stuff like that. Just like inequalities and stuff that go on in the Hispanic community,” said HoPe president Tanzila Jamal (’22). “This year we are planning on doing many drives. Currently, we have a food drive going on.”

Finding out how to volunteer can be difficult, but Chamblee students are afforded the luxury of having a plethora of organizations at school that allow them to find their best path to community service.

Computer Science Honor Society

Chamblee offers students many avenues to volunteer in their community. In addition to traditional clubs such as the National Honors Society and Beta Club, there are also other specialized volunteer groups such as Tri-M, which uses music to give back, and National Art Honor Society. With the introduction of the Computer Science Honor Society, students will now have the opportunity to volunteer with technology firmly in mind.

The club was started by Heather Miller, Chamblee’s computer science teacher. Initially, the creation was prompted by student support and the Computer Science Teachers’ Association, which seeks to assist local teachers with computer science education.

“The Computer Science Teachers Association had put out a call for honor society applications,” said Miller. “They were interested in getting it back up now that most schools are in person.”

While the effort was somewhat rushed, Miller was able to complete the process in time for an interest meeting to be held during the first semester.

“It was one of those synchronistic things where [everything] hit at the same time,” Miller said. “I got word that Lockheed Martin was funding some [Computer Science Honor Societies] so I threw some stuff together [for the application].”

The interest meeting, which was held on Thursday, December 2nd, had an unexpectedly large turnout.

“I expected, you know, maybe 10 kids. We packed the room,” continued Miller.

The club serves to bring together parts of Chamblee’s substantial computer science community and introduce others to it.

“I can bring students together who are interested in literally anything under computer science and then have them break off into what I would call affinity groups or interest groups,” said Miller. “And they learn their interest [and] they teach their interest”

The Computer Science Honors Society uses a point system to track members’ volunteer hours and determine eligibility for the graduation chord.

“Just like Interact [Club] has a point system. That’s kind of what [the point system is] modeled after. […] there’s service points, but then there’s also just attendance [and] participation [points],” said Miller

The organization is still in progress, with many various administrative problems still left to solve. For example, current upperclassmen will have a different target for hours than underclassmen.

“We’ll kind of get into a system,” said Miller. “We’re gonna vote and we’re gonna make the bylaws and we’ll go from there.”

Unlike other clubs, the honors society tries to be inclusive with its membership, not requiring a specific course or GPA to join.

“I don’t technically have a minimum requirement for grade point average,” said Miller. “We’ve got some [students] who are not in any [computer sciences classes] but are interested. Good. Get interested, be here.”

In line with this inclusivity, Miller hopes to combat “locker room” mindsets that have been present in other technology and computer science organizations, such as gaming companies like Blizzard.

“I’m huge on equity. I want to bring equity. […] We’ve got to give people agency to say that this [mindset] is not okay,” said Miller.

Through initiatives like Hour of Code, the club seeks to get more students interested in computer science. This even extends past Chamblee.

“[What] we’re hoping is [that] we can go into other schools […] with a group of students,” said Miller. “We’re just trying to expose our fellow students [to this subject].”

While the club is still just getting started, it presents a promising future for the expansion of computer science at Chamblee.