The National Technical Honor Society chapter at Washington High School in Charles Town, WV has demonstrated how meaningful service can also serve as powerful career preparation. Throughout the school year, students led and participated in a wide range of community service initiatives that required planning, budgeting, communication, teamwork, and logistical coordination, all skills central to business, marketing, and finance pathways.
Students began the year by identifying local needs through brainstorming sessions and community outreach, then organizing service projects with clear goals and timelines. One of the chapter’s most impactful efforts included collaborating with the school’s Key Club to host the Autumn Amazement community gathering.
This large-scale
event required students to coordinate volunteers, manage supplies, promote the event, and oversee activities that drew hundreds of attendees. The same planning and marketing skills were later applied to organizing a Trunk or Treat and a community Halloween Party at the Charles Town Moose Lodge, where students worked with local partners to ensure a safe and engaging experience for families.
Members also focused on addressing food insecurity and community wellness. Students partnered with local leaders to deliver food bags to families in need and volunteered time and resources to prepare and serve meals at the Charles Town Moose Lodge. These efforts required careful inventory management, cost awareness, scheduling, and communication with partner organizations, mirroring real-world operational planning found in business environments.
Additional service initiatives included assembling no-sew blankets for the Animal Welfare Society and working with Kids Power Pack to help secure and distribute shelf-stable food items for students facing food insecurity. Through Kids Power Pack, students helped support a program that provides more than 800 families with monthly food resources, reinforcing the importance of sustainable service models and long-term community impact. During the winter season, members also organized activities for seniors at the Senior Christmas Luncheon and created care items for elementary students and families, demonstrating adaptability and thoughtful service planning across age groups.
Each project strengthened students’ ability to collaborate, problem-solve, manage resources, and communicate effectively with community partners. By treating service as a structured, goal-driven effort, the chapter showed how civic engagement and career readiness go hand in hand.
Washington High School’s NTHS chapter sets a strong example of how service activities can be intentionally designed to build leadership and workforce skills while making a lasting difference in the community. We would like to encourage all chapters to explore similar service opportunities within their own communities and to share their impact with NTHS by submitting details through the Chapter Highlight Form so their work can inspire others nationwide.
