The Dartmouth High School gym was not set up for a typical volleyball game on Wednesday, Nov. 15. Instead, three courts were set up for three simultaneous volleyball games.

And teams composed of Dartmouth High School students, staff and kids from surrounding schools weren’t competing for a title — just bragging rights and the chance to raise money for charity at the National Honor Society’s annual volleyball tournament.

According to National Honor Society advisor Meaghan Tully, this well-loved and well-attended event has been held for at least three years.

“I think the biggest thing is that it brings so many different people together,” said Tully. “Yes it's competitive but it's more about having fun and supporting a good cause.”

This year, the National Honor Society raised money for KyleCares, a Massachusetts-based non-profit organization “dedicated to promoting open and honest communication about the mental health challenges experienced by teens and young adults in today’s society,” according to the organization’s website.

Tully explained that KyleCares was chosen through a vote of all 102 Dartmouth National Honor Society members.

In addition to holding a volleyball tournament, National Honor Society members sold concessions and held a raffle for gift baskets filled with everything from coffee and cookies to gift cards and beauty supplies.

For National Honor Society president Adeline Ablett, 18, this event does more than just raise money for a good cause, it helps build strong civic and professional skills.

“This definitely requires organization skills. You have to create a plan beforehand so it [doesn’t] all go haywire ,” said Ablett. “Learning that it's so important to give back to the community is such a big lesson that you can carry for the rest of your life.”

And this plan took all semester to execute.

According to Ablett, honor society members broke off into separate committees each led by an honor society officer. Each committee was given a different responsibility from putting together raffle baskets to soliciting donations from local businesses.

Members of the National Honor Society are “supposed to express certain pillars: character, leadership [and] scholarship,” said member Riley Robert, 17, who helped run the check-in table at the event.

And Tully has seen her students come together and use those skills to make this event happen.

“It’s a really nice team mentality,” she said. “They’re really stepping up and doing more than what is expected of them.”