By Meg Peters
Review Staff Writer
Lake Orion High School senior Kyle Duffey is a science whiz, and proud of it.
In fact, he loves science so much that he started a local chapter of the Science National Honor Society (SNHS) at LOHS for students like him.
Not affiliated with the National Honor Society, which has accepted students based on their G.P.A.?’and demonstrated service and character since 1921, the SNHS was founded in the 1980s and encourages students to pursue intellectual, scientific careers for today’s high-tech world.
SNHS members must be in their last two years of high school, maintain a 3.0 grade point average in regular classes and a 3.5 G.P.A. in all science courses, and must be enrolled in at least one upper level or honors science course during or prior to their eleventh grade year, among other stipulations.
For Duffey all it took was a little research, perseverance, a sense of leadership and a metaphysical passion for the most basic aspects of human existence.
After discussing the possibility of opening a chapter with Principle Steve Hawley and Head of the Science Department, Stephen Tighe, the crew submitted the final application and fee to begin the chapter at LOHS last summer.
With just a couple meetings, the LOHS SNHS is up and running with elected board members,?’including Duffey as the president, and three other elected members including a vice president, secretary and treasurer.??
Through word of mouth and minimal advertising, about 35 interested students showed up at the first meeting a couple weeks before the holiday break, and now that school is back in session, Duffey expects to begin planning the SNHS’s main objectives.
His first goal is to get kids interested in structured science classes at a much younger age.
‘Our short term goal is to bridge the gaps between high school and middle school level science curriculums as well as at the elementary level because science doesn’t get as much attention as it needs especially for the younger kids,? Duffey said. ‘When I think back to middle school I can’t even remember what we learned. One day we learned about water, the next the periodic table. It didn’t seem related. That’s one thing I’d like to change.?
Duffey would also like to get high school science students involved with the middle school and elementary school science fairs to create more incentive for younger students to participate.
Over the long term, after Duffey leaves Lake Orion to study physics at Princeton University this fall, he hopes that the SNHS develop a stronger scientific literacy in all grade levels by giving everyone the opportunity to learn about the different fields.
‘There’s something for just about everyone if you actually take a look and are exposed to the different levels of science, and for that reason I think it’s really important that students get enough scientific exposure and structure at the middle school and elementary levels.?
Duffey’s mother, Sheila, is especially stoked.
‘I think he has taken leadership to a whole new level, especially for him,? she said, emphasizing his need for those skills at Princeton. ‘He’s kind of a phenomenal kid I’d say, from a mom’s point of view of course.?
Duffey has been through Lake Orion schools through and through, from Orion Oaks Elementary to Waldon Middle School, and for this reason he is trying to give back. Apart from earning his high school diploma this year, he will also be gaining several college credits from his dual enrollment at Oakland Community College studying nanoscience.??
In his spare time, which he doesn’t have much of, Duffey plays guitar and hangs out with his girlfriend.
Mostly every other moment is devoted to research and discovering new solutions.
His physics teacher Stephen Tighe is the sponsor teacher for the SNHS, and Duffey trusts him to keep the program going strong in his absence.
‘It’s always been a big deal for him [Tighe] that he doesn’t play a big part in our activities, that it should be and remain a student organization. So I trust him to make sure that it obviously stays alive and to continue emphasizing things that are important and relevant,? Duffey said. ‘The word is going to spread and more people will know about it, and before you know it, it will be something alongside NHS, and people will be trying to get into it. I have no doubt that every year there are a good amount of science-minded students, and in that group I have no doubt that they are very intellectually capable of leading an organization like this.?