Theta Alpha Chapter of New Mexico
The National Honor Society was founded in 1921 by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Its members are chosen by faculty members on the basis of academic abilities, leadership skills and character. Founder Joanne Juren, a former public school teacher and assistant principal, thought home-schooled kids should have an equivalent honor to show college admissions offices their successes. She came up with the name: Eta and Sigma. These are the Greek letters for "h" and "s", and alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. The intended meaning: Eta Sigma Alpha is home-schooling's first honor society. To give the group validity, high entrance requirements are set for students. The National Honor Society requires a 3.0 grade-point average, although individual chapters can set higher bars. To get into Eta Sigma Alpha, a student must have a 3.5 grade-point average - plus a high score on a standardized test. The testing requirement is meant to battle against one of the criticisms home-schoolers face - it's tough to know how legitimate a grade-point average is when the student's parent is doing the grading. The first chapter was established by Ms. Juren in 1999. The Theta Alpha Chapter of New Mexico was given its name by ESA.