To be a part of the National Honor Society at Cape Elizabeth High School, students are not only required to have good grades, but also good hearts.

Ginger Raspiller, the adviser to the school’s National Honor Society chapter and liaison to the national organization, praises the 30 students inducted into the club for their dedication to community service.

“It’s a really motivated group, and they’ve been really hard working,” said Raspiller, who is the Acheivement Center coordinator at the school.

Every year, members of the National Honor Society are required to undertake a community service project. In addition to volunteering at soup kitchens and tutoring schoolmates, the students this year decided they wanted to raise enough money to pay for one child’s wish to come true through the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine. The average amount of money needed to do that is $5,000.

Last Saturday, the society held a semi-formal dance for Cape Elizabeth High School students as a fundraiser for their endeavor. The dance was held at Camp Ketcha in Scarborough, and tickets were sold in advance for $10. The event raised $2,700, with all proceeds going to the charity.

Raspiller was particularly impressed with the student’s goal to have all of the food and decorations for the dance donated. “They’ve been really, really persistent,” she said.

Part of the criteria considered in accepting students into the honor society is their previous community service and volunteer work. Students must also have a grade average of 93 if they are applying as juniors; or 92 if they’re applying as seniors. The students who meet these requirements are then considered by a faculty panel and are finally inducted in the spring.

Emily Atkins, a senior who serves as public relations officer for the honor society, said that this year, the club wanted to keep its volunteering thematic. In addition to fundraising for Make-A-Wish, members participated in the Ronald McDonald House, another charity concerned with sick children.

They have already raised $450 through candy-cane grams, a project that Atkins called “very successful.”

Though the semi-formal was their biggest undertaking this year, the society hopes to raise the rest of the money needed to make a wish come true by holding a raffle in the coming months. Atkins is optimistic the club will reach its fundraising goal.

“We’re going to work hard,” she said. “We have a lot of support from the administration at our high school and the community as well.”