Front row, from left: Perry Thomas (sponsor), Sharon Ammons, Sylvia Blyholder, Nina Rolloff (secretary), Helen Messner (treasurer), Hee-Young Kim, Nicky Gyles (president), Sue Stockton (vice-president), J.D. Hobbs, Mike Brooks, Melissa Upchurch, Jana Janzen. Second row: Liz Adam, Karan Carpenter, Betsy Stewart, Sandi Coffin, Laura Larr, Sheila Barbee, Nancy Stanberry, Lisa McConnell, Betsy Perkins, Bev Kreie, Susan Stephenson, Jody Tyson. Third row: Susan Herrington, Luanne Smart, Vicki Hileman, Debbie Adam, Diane Bell, Pat Bryan, Judy Goff, Pam Sills, Lisa Lashley, Terry Miller, Laura McKinnon, Donna Moore, Karen Jones. Fourth row: Sherman Smith, Alan Hepler, Steven Yancey, Dianne Cross, Teresa Fields, Teensy Kirby, Cathy Huff, John Horn, Soren Kraemer, Tom Coker, Kathy Bell, Janis Reed. Fifth row: Marc McGuire, Bob Storey, Gary Striegler, Jeff Ward, Brian Holt, Rick Turner, Don Carter, Greg Thoma, Daniel Wickliff, Cecile McKee, Linda Langham. Back row: Phyllis Kelly, Mark Springer, Bill Watkins, Jeff England, Samuel Steel, Theresa Smith, Dotty Neely, Terry Reed, Becky Riggs, Nathan McKinney, Robert Meyer.
One of the highest academic honors a student could receive was becoming a member of the National Honor Society.
The membership was composed of seniors with a maintained grade average of 3.25 or more. There were two elections in which the faculty voted on the eligibility of the candidates with each student judged on a one to five scale. Those receiving the highest rating were formally initiated.
The first group of seniors (pictured) were initiated in the spring of their junior year. Those initiated this fall were Sharon Ammons, Debbie Atto, Keith Banks, Robert Cate, Jody Tyson, Randall Hughes, Gail Davis, Anna Leichner, Brian McGreevy, Deanna Eden, Bob Storey, Melissa Upchurch, Jana Janzen, Cheryl Clinehens, Billie Bacha, Jerry Cox, Duane Dunn and David Evans.
NHS’s money making project for 1975-76 was the sale of candy canes at Christmas time. This project was headed by President Nicky Gyles. The other officers were Sue Stockton, vice-president; Helen Messner, treasurer; Nina Rolloff, secretary; and Hee-Young Kim, reporter-historian.
NHS members Sue Stockton and Judy Goff serve refreshments following fall initiation.
During the 1975-76 school year, university students in the creative writing program at the University of Arkansas taught elementary and secondary students across the state about poetry and various approaches to writing poems. The outreach program was known at Poetry in the Schools, or PITS for short.
From the writing, several poems from each school were chosen for publication, including more than a dozen written by seniors in the Class of 76. The attached PDF only contains the forward, introduction and poetry from FHS and the PitStop School in Fayetteville.
Today, the program is known as Writers in the Schools, or WITS, and continues to foster creative writing in schools across the state.