With the start of the school year comes the reboot of the National Honor Societies. Among these highly regarded clubs is Rho Kappa, the National Social Studies Honors Society. Members of Rho Kappa can be found taking trips to the Georgia Capitol and promoting voting registration among senior Warriors.
Rho Kappa is led by the esteemed Mrs. Caitlin Tripp, an AP world history teacher. Tripp began the North Atlanta chapter in 2018 and worked with Class of 2020’s Annie Weber to get the club off the ground. Tripp’s favorite activity that the club has done was their excursion to the Georgia Capitol, where they had the honor of meeting the governor and interviewing Sen. Jen Jordan. Tripp is also thrilled about the club’s partnership with My School Votes – an extension of Michelle Obama’s voter registration push program. As a result of North Atlanta’s dedication to the program, an image of several Rho Kappa members of the class of 2023 got tweeted by Michelle Obama herself, which Tripp found thrilling., “I screamed! My husband thought something bad happened and ran into the room,” she said. “It was so exciting to see our seniors featured that way because I am so proud of them and glad their hard work was appreciated.”
UGA freshman Emma Gleason was one of the five Warriors in Obama’s tweet, along with Tanner Adams, Delia Neufeld, Marley Jones, and Elizabeth Ackerman. Gleason always enjoyed Mrs. Tripp’s class, and when she heard about Rho Kappa she knew she had to join. Gleason appreciated the opportunity to expand upon her interest in social studies in a world away from grades and pressure. The pinnacle of her time with the club was the aforementioned Michelle Obama tweet. “I was on Facetime with my roommate talking about comforters for our dorm. I started getting a ton of texts about it and was very confused,” she said. “I didn’t believe them at first, but when I saw Michelle Obama tweeted about us, I was so excited.”
While members of Emma Gleason’s year have left the building, a new wave is ready to take their place. This includes junior Anderson Benedict. Benedict has never had Tripp as a teacher, but she attended Tripp’s highly acclaimed AP world tutorial sessions. Anderson was introduced to the club by a friend and has hopes of becoming more interactive with the school.“It’s important for us to learn more about voting with the upcoming elections,” she said.
Though only juniors and seniors are allowed to join this amazing club, this exclusive honor gives freshmen and sophomores something to look forward to in the coming years! Rho Kappa offers a unique opportunity to enhance an interest in social studies. Keep an eye out for the My School Votes table outside of the cafeteria from 18 September to 24 September for National Voter Registration Week.
