NANKIN — Braylon Goon, an eighth grader at Mapleton Middle School, is the first President of the school’s chapter of the National Junior Honor Society.
A bright, articulate, and enthusiastic student, Braylon celebrated the school’s accomplishment of starting its first chapter of the NJHS this fall and is excited to be part of such a great organization.
Founded in 1929, NJHS elevates awareness of a school’s commitment to the values of scholarship, service, leadership, character, and citizenship. To join, students must apply, write an essay, provide teacher recommendations, and have exemplary grades.
A panel of Mapleton teachers selected who would be inducted into the NJHS based on this process. Inductees then nominate and vote for their officers several meetings into their selection. Braylon was selected as the NJHS President, with Tyler Hartzler serving as their Vice President, Emily Katsaris as Treasurer, and Lucy Hartley as Secretary.
“Being in the National Junior Honor Society definitely helps with leadership skills, organizational skills, planning, and teamwork,” Braylon said.
The Society organized a bake sale recently and hosted it at a Mapleton track meet to raise funds for their chapter.
“We had to put together all of the details, logistics, and so on, coordinating everything with the athletic director and other offices,” he added.
Each member of the NJHS is obligated to complete 10 hours of community service per semester. Among other forms of community service, members regularly watch the children of parents who are involved with PTO meetings.
On May 10, the NJHS will participate in Mapleton Cares Day. While the National Honor Society members at the high school level will complete community service projects out in the community, middle school students will go around to different parts of the school to mulch, repaint the press box, and other community activities.
In the fall, the chapter helped send 19 veterans on the Veterans Honor Bus to D.C. to see memorials.
Mapleton recently hosted its first National Junior Honor Society induction ceremony. Braylon spoke about citizenship as part of that ceremony.
“Being a member of the NJHS helps us mature as people,” Braylon said. “This is really cool, I’m in a position of leadership to help out my school and my community.”
When asked who his favorite teachers were, Braylon listed a pile of names.
“Mr. Ortiz (he’s also my track and cross country coach) interacts with you in a way no other teacher does. Mr. Gerwig is so much fun and makes a lot of jokes. Mrs. Long is kind and sweet and always prepares such fun activities. Mr. Long is also the leader of the student council – he has a good sense of humor.
“Mrs. Kuschel was my teacher during my sixth grade year and really helped during quarantine. She still had office hours and tried to help as much as possible. She’s so kind and nice. When she went on maternity leave she still emailed and asked how we were doing to stay in touch.”
Braylon’s favorite subjects are English Language Arts, History, and Art, and although it isn’t his favorite, he still enjoys Algebra.
“I applied to take Algebra this year, and I’m really glad I did that. I feel like I’ve grown so much more in Algebra, and my math levels are better,” Braylon said.
In addition to serving as the President of NJHS, Braylon is also a runner on the cross country and track and field teams, and he serves on the middle school student council.
Outside of school, Braylon enjoys spending time with his mom, Kathy Goon, dad Jim Goon, and step-mom Teresa Goon, and as an only child, he’s fond of hanging out with his dogs, a miniature chocolate lab and a golden retriever.
He’s looking forward to high school with excitement and a little apprehension.
“I had the same anxiety about going to middle school and it turned out fine. I’m going into high school with a positive outlook on everything.” Braylon plans to be involved with the student council and high school National Honor Society in the future as well.
Braylon’s ideas about the future have changed here and there, as to be expected when you’re in eighth grade, but right now, his hopes for after high school are to get into marketing and advertising.
“My dream is to work on a Super Bowl commercial,” Braylon said. “I would love to experiment with different advertising campaigns.”
