How Will You Celebrate National Principals Month?
October is National Principals Month, so it’s an ideal time to recognize the hard work your principal invests in supporting your school. The National Association of Secondary School Principals—parent organization of NHS, NJHS, and National Student Council—sponsors the month. Through the National Principals Month website, you’ll find easy ways for your chapter or council to participate! How about sending your principal an e-card? It’s free! Or #ThankAPrincipal on social media, using the social media toolkit online. Visit www.principalsmonth.org for all of these options and more.
Deadline Alert: Outstanding Service Project Award Program
NHS and NJHS chapters should be aware that the submission deadline for the Outstanding Service Project Award program is November 1—earlier than usual—this academic year. Ten NHS and 10 NJHS chapters will receive this honor. To be eligible for consideration, projects must have been completed between August 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017. Visit www.nhs.us/osp or www.njhs.us/osp for criteria and the online application. Read the feature on page 24 for words of wisdom from 2016–17 award honorees.
Seeking Councils of Excellence
Every year, hundreds of thousands of students are impacted by the positive work of student councils that earn the National Council of Excellence designation from National Student Council. This award is given to councils that meet standards-based criteria and document outcomes. Councils that demonstrate the highest levels of leadership and meet additional standards earn gold status. The application for the 2017–18 program is now open; it closes February 15, 2018. Visit www.NatStuCo.org/ncoe for criteria and the application. Check out this overview of the 2016–17 program honorees.
How to Follow Us on Social Media
The national office uses our social media accounts to let you know about programs and opportunities throughout the year. With the constantly adapting Facebook algorithm that decides how often you see people’s posts, we want to be sure you’re not missing out on anything about NHS, NJHS, or National Student Council. Here are a few steps you can take to ensure you’re getting all the information you need from our social media accounts:
- Like us on Facebook by going to the /NHSandNJHS page or /NatStuCo page and hit “Like.” This will allow us to be in your Pages Feed on the left-hand side of your News Feed where you can always find us if you want to check in.
- After you’ve “liked” us, you can click “following,” then “see first” to be sure our posts appear in your News Feed.
- Make sure you engage with our posts! The more you “like,” comment on, and share our Facebook posts, the more likely they are to come up in your feed.
- To make sure you don’t miss a beat, follow us on Twitter @nhs_njhs and @NatStuCo. On Instagram, find us @nhs_njhs and @NatStuCo!
NHS Scholarship Program Opens Soon
This year, the NHS Scholarship program will award a total of $1.5 million to 500 exceptional National Honor Society seniors. Make sure your senior members in good standing take advantage of this outstanding opportunity to support their higher education aspirations. They can submit applications beginning October 6. NHS advisers will get an email with an application link to share with members. Applicants will need three recommendations—from the adviser, principal, and one other teacher—so you should suggest they prepare now. Visit www.nhs.us/scholarship today to get familiar with the program and watch a short video about the scholarship.
Are You Up to Date?
You should be getting emails occasionally from the national office about various programs and opportunities for you, your students, or your school. If you’re not, check your account online and make sure your email address and all other profile details are accurate. If there is more than one adviser for your council or chapter, be sure all advisers are listed and their email addresses are up to date. Log in to the website via the utility bar at the top at www.NatStuCo.org, www.nhs.us, or www.njhs.us. If you have trouble, email [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected].
Dates to Remember
OCTOBER
National Principals Month
October 6: Early-bird registration deadline for Orlando LEAD Conference
October 6: NHS Scholarship Program application opens
October 12: NHS/NJHS college admission planning webinar,”Your First Step in Financial Aid: the FAFSA.” See www.nhs.us/webinar for registration.
October 20: Regular registration deadline for Orlando LEAD Conference
NOVEMBER
NHS Scholarship program application available
November 1: Outstanding Service Project award applications due
November 3–5: LEAD Orlando Conference
November 7: Prudential Spirit of Community Awards application deadline (www.nassp.org/spirit)
DECEMBER
NHS Scholarship program application available
December 18: Early-bird registration deadline for LEAD DC Conference