After school, National Honor Society; ideas fly everywhere, and members frantically searching for community service opportunities. Looking around the Performing Art Center, a petite girl is in the corner, quietly soaking all the information up.
Her name is Gail Malecki.
She is a new student and senior at Huntley High School from Colorado. But not only is she new, she is also Huntley High School’s newest NHS president.
Her family’s main reason for moving, in mid-July, was to move closer to family, but what she did not know was her chance waiting to happen.
“It was not an option for me at first, but when I came, Mrs. Stone gave me the opportunity and I took it,” said Malecki.
When she was elected president, it came as a shock to her because “no one [knows her] and, of course, [she] is only known as the ‘New Girl’,” said Malecki. She said other students were well spoken during their candidate speeches that she never imagined herself being in the position.
NHS means more to her than anything because it is the only activity she truly enjoys and she loves giving back to the community. She has so much dedication that she accumulated over 250 hours of community service from her freshman through junior year.
Since NHS is firmly established, her future plans are to bring more opportunities and “inspire people to go above and beyond the set 15 hours,” said Malecki.
“She will definitely keep NHS organized,” said Ebru Senger, senior member of NHS.
As a new student and president, she believes she can bring a fresh perspective and commitment to HHS and NHS from her previous experience back in Colorado. She also wishes to pull more members into to NHS to share her influence with them.