For nearly every event hosted by SHS, the student members of Cardinal Cadre have been there to help guide, usher and provide information for those visiting the school, according to Cardinal Cadre director Catherine Cullison.

Cullison explained that the group currently consists of around 75 students who have met the GPA requirement of 2.5 and are motivated to represent the school.

According to Cullison’s written description, members of Cardinal Cadre are selected through an application process and are evaluated on previous experience, availability to serve, poise, personality, attendance and punctuality, scholastic standing and a few other criterias including communication skills and trustworthiness.

“As far as the school goes, when they request cadre for an event, they know they are getting students who are going to put a good face forward toward the school and be good representatives for the school,” Cullison said.

According to Cullison, the students involved are given the opportunity to help out in a variety of different ways. These include talking to alumni groups and giving them a sense of what the school is currently like as explained by a contemporary SHS student.

“The alumni like to have current students there to kind of see how things are compared to when they went to school here,” Cullison said.

Cullison and Cadre member sophomore Abby Sullivan believe that the group is beneficial and has a positive impact on many people. They see this experience to be helpful to the members, the school and those they are guiding.

They explained that it not only aids on college applications but broadens their horizons while allowing them to experience and discover new things.

Sullivan helped during the Southport’s first Culture Day. She enjoyed the experience.

“I worked with the food and helped pass everything out and run stuff back and forth in the kitchen,” Sullivan said. “And I did not even know that the cultures event was a thing, and I got to go to that and it was a fun experience.”

Cullison has witnessed the benefits second hand.

“I’ve had students comment ‘you know I did not know that we did that here at Southport’ so by working that event they were exposed to different parts of the school that they did not know existed,” Cullison said.