New this year, advisors Tori Flaherty and Heather Hamilton, alongside President Kaylee Barchard, began a chapter of the National English Honors Society here at HBHS. Named after long-term English teacher Michael Fox, the Michael Fox Literary Society aims to give students who are passionate about English a collaborative environment to share their love for the subject and a good book. 

Both students and teachers have found that it’s time for the Language Arts to be recognized as much as other subjects are, and HB’s National English Honors Society seeks to support this recognition. “My biggest goal is to create a community for people who are more inclined toward language arts, as this school is very inclined towards STEM,” says NEHS President Kaylee Barchard ’26. Advisor Flaherty speaks to this same point, saying that “for many years, HBHS has been a powerhouse of academia, and though there are so many ways students can display their talents in math and the sciences, it is time for their incredible talents in English to also shine.”

But how come NEHS just started? And why now? “I found out about NEHS while sitting in Flight Coffee, my favorite haunt in Bedford. There, the Bedford High School NEHS chapter had a box collecting book donations for their local Boys and Girls Club. When I saw it, my first thought was, well, HBHS could do that. And that was it,” says Flaherty. From there, the chapter began, and the group is now working towards recruiting members and deciding how the new and exciting program is going to run.

HB’s NEHS is formally recognized as the “Michael Fox Literary Society,” named after English teacher Michael Fox, a member of the HB community for over 50 years. 

It’s possible that there is no one who loves to read more than Mr. Fox. He was raised in northern Maine and spent much of his childhood without television, so he just read. “I always have 3-4 books going at the same time,” Fox says. 

One of his current reads is a collection of poetry titled Time is a Mother, by Ocean Vuoug. Though in all of his life, this number is multiple hundred. “My granddaughter was visiting one time and decided to count all the books in my house,” Fox shares. “She was in the late 100s and gave up. I have books all over the place.” As such a lover of the field of English, it is fitting that this program be dedicated to him. 

As wonderful as this new program is for the school community and its students, the creation of the NEHS is a process that has come with its challenges. “We had no baseline for what we wanted to do, so we were kind of going in blind,” Barchard shares, leaving her thinking: “Will it work, will it not?” 

Barchard and Flaherty claimed that there has been difficulty in advertising, among other things. In Flaherty’s opinion, “The challenge is being patient, letting kids come, and getting ready to support them in what they want to build together.” But with Barchard’s abilities as a leader and Hamilton and Flaherty working right by her side, they are certain to overcome these challenges and have the program flourishing in no time. 

The NEHS is a group full of ambition and a goal to serve a greater good for the school. “We want to create a community for people who love language arts and form a sense of belonging,” says Barchard. The NEHS seeks to provide a collaborative space for students like this. “I am looking forward to having a space for kids who were like me in high school: a person who loved literature and reading and demonstrated talent in English more than her other subjects,” says Flaherty. 

The NEHS met for the first time for an information session on September 30, 2025, and will hold their first formal meeting after school on October 17. Any interested students who fit the criteria on the HB NEHS website can fill out an easy application and become a member.