We are overjoyed to announce the release of our first student-authored magazine, available here.

With the guidance of Shivi Pandey, National Honor Society (NHS) student president, 14 National Honor Society students combined their talents, voices, and passions and published the magazine linked above. This publication focuses on student-led service initiatives related to our 2021-2022 school service theme of expanding educational access. With projects spanning across the United States, Brazil, and India, these scholars shared ways they are making a positive difference in their communities. From food drives, to partnerships with Special Olympics, to tutoring projects, our NHS scholars are making an impact on education, equity, and inclusion. NHS Faculty Sponsor Ms. Alicia Bixby said the project “exceeded her expectations” and is a wonderful highlight of the “power of teamwork.” Congratulations to the following student authors and leaders who contributed to this publication: Shivi Pandey, Tiago Campos, Ava Fleury, Felipe Moraes, Gabriela Fanganiello, Diogo Goto, Alícia Barbosa, Leonardo Borges, Fernanda Takeuti, Isabela Pozza, Pedro Araujo, Bárbara Meirelles, Ana Yamamoto, and Gabriela Cutrim!

For more background on this project, please read the following  interview with University of Missouri High School senior, Shivi Pandey. Shivi serves as the current National Honor Society President and is the Editor and Designer for this new magazine. 

Why did you want to start the magazine?

Our Mizzou NHS team means the world to me. We have over 200 members worldwide and under Ms. Alicia Bixby’s guidance we elect officers, share support, and make key decisions together such as choosing the theme of our service projects for the year. However, due to our geographic dispersal we execute our projects individually. I missed not having a team project that would not only bring us closer together, but also provide us the opportunity to use our strength in numbers and global reach to make a larger impact.

As President of NHS in my junior year, I found e-commerce sites like Teespring to set up an online store and fundraise. The team was excited, and the manner in which we leveraged off of each other made us feel empowered like never before. Ideas were being formed by one, designed into art by another, and then it was on a t-shirt and for sale on the web.

Together, we ran a year-long campaign sponsored by The Trevor Project and raised $650 by December 2021.

When I returned as president of NHS my senior year, I worked to apply the lessons learnt into a more sustainable solution. After much contemplation, I found the idea of publishing a Mizzou NHS Magazine to not only be more sustainable, but far more rewarding as well. Articles from members would showcase their thoughts and personalities while also inspiring our readers and each other to look at the world as a whole and find strength in our diversity and international reach. Further, the magazine would live beyond us and hopefully provide future Mizzou NHS members the same sense of team spirit that we feel and give them a platform to reach newer heights and make an even larger impact.

What surprised you in learning more about your peers’ work?

Reading the work of my peers, I felt I was able to experience their journeys vicariously, be it the issues they were tackling in their local communities, to their search for a solution and the hardships they faced along the way. With each article, our differences in approach and struggles became clearer, yet we all shared a desire to make a change and the will and spirit to take action. This knowledge continuously motivates me to strive harder knowing that so much more is possible as shown by my peers. Above all, I find hope that despite our simplicity, we matter and can make a difference.

What do you hope readers will take away from this publication?

The target audience is the youth and I would like the readers to take away just one thing: Don’t wait for change; instead, join hands and bring the change. Modern technology is offering potential that far exceeds our understanding. Today, through this magazine, it has helped us learn and grow from each other on a worldwide platform. Tomorrow, it can be used to propose, collaborate, and solve problems together.