Help with College Planning: Save These Dates
NHS and NJHS present two college admission planning webinars exclusively for Honor Society members and their parents:
February 17: “Understanding Financial Aid,” 7:00–8:00 p.m. (ET)
March 23: “The ‘Right’ College Fit,” 7:00–8:00 p.m. (ET)
Register at www.nhs.us/webinar or www.njhs.us/webinar. Advisers: Participants will need your affiliation number to register, so please share that number with your members.
Be Prepared with These College Budget Tools
Help your students meet college budget challenges head on with these useful tools. A resource available from The College Board called “Big Future” has several resources and calculators designed to help students with college planning. Check those out at https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/tools-calculators.
Sallie Mae, a financial services company that specializes in education, also has a free resource on its website called the College Planning Calculator. Students can sign up for free and build a solid plan for financing their higher education experience. Visit www.salliemae.com/college-planning-calculator to get started. If college is just around the corner, these tools can help students figure out how to pay for it. If college is further away, these tools can help students save up.
The Leadership Lessons Series
Apps and websites are great, but sometimes a good old-fashioned book can be an invaluable tool for advisers and students alike. The Leadership Lessons series is a three-book resource that provides high-quality lessons developed by high school and middle level leadership teachers and activity advisers. Each book in this series contains detailed lessons that are designed to help students improve their leadership skills, learn more about themselves, and explore strategies for working more effectively with others. Get your copy at https://store.nhs.us, https://store.njhs.us, or https://store.nasc.us.
Middle Schoolers Say No to Substance Abuse and Yes to Leadership
Last May, 48 Charles Arthur Hughes Middle School students in Mesquite, NV, attended a leadership camp at Utah State University where they participated in various team-building activities and listened to first-hand accounts from speakers who had experienced the dangers of substance abuse. The principal felt that his students would be less inclined to listen to him about this important issue, and that student peers would be a much more positive influence. When asked about the results of the program last December, the principal said that many program participants are now much more involved in school-sponsored activities. He went on to say, “Building leadership capacity among more and more students is only part of the solution, but it is an important start.”
Dates to Remember
FEBRUARY
Shull Adviser of the Year Award finalists notified
February 12–14: LEAD Conference in Chicago, IL
February 16: National Council of Excellence Awards application deadline
February 16: Rynearson NHS and NJHS National Adviser of the Year nomination deadline
February 16: NHS Scholarship application deadline
February 17: Honor Society webinar: “Understanding Financial Aid”
February 19: NJHS Outstanding Achievement Award application deadline
MARCH
Middle Level Education Month
March 23: Honor Society webinar: “The ‘Right’ College Fit”
National Student Leadership Week 2016: Right Here, Right Now
This April 17–23, your students need to ask themselves one question: What can I do right here, right now, to make an immediate difference?
National Student Leadership Week (NSLW) gives students the chance to show how their leadership can positively affect their school and community. This year’s theme of “Right Here, Right Now” allows them to focus on actions and projects that have an instant impact—and then use social media to challenge their followers to do the same using #NSLW16.
To make a difference right here, right now, students could perform a random act of kindness (writing a note of gratitude to their principal, mowing the lawn for someone) or carry out a preplanned project (planting a school garden, spending time with the elderly).
Learn more and start planning your NSLW activities today by visiting www.nhs.us/nslw, www.njhs.us/nslw, or www.nasc.us/nslw.
2016 NASC National Conference Explore Your Leadership Potential
Make sure your council is registered for this year’s NASC National Conference (#NASCconf16) in Portland, OR. This June 24–26 at Century High School, student council members and advisers will roll up their sleeves and dive into robust leadership training. With high-energy, engaging speakers and informative workshops, this conference never fails to send advisers home with the knowledge and enthusiasm to improve their local council and realize their leadership potential.
The deadline to save on registration with the early bird rate is April 15. Learn more and register today at www.nascconference.org.