Blog

As you enter the spring months, we encourage you to consider opportunities to cultivate future leadership among your potential officers and members who will continue the charge: "Making a World of Difference." We would like to offer three strategies for succession planning: First, ask your current officers to host informational presentations, write and share articles...

Say Hello to Headspace Headspace is an online resource accessible by phone or computer that shows participants how to train their minds for a healthier, happier outlook. Take 10 is a free 10-day program where listeners can learn the basics of meditation in just 10 minutes a day. If you want to take things a step...

March 4 Meals During the month of March, student council and NHS students at Silver Stage High School in Silver Springs, NV, participate in a five-mile walk to raise money to provide food for their local senior center. Community members are also invited to participate in this activity for a great cause. Aid for Flint...

Jennifer Dellapina Former student council member and group strategic planning director at Conill, one of the nation's leading Latino marketing agencies Advise: When did you first know you wanted to participate in student council? What did you hope to gain from the experience?  I noticed that the people involved in student council were the ones...

Collaborative Creativity Objective Students will see how creativity is a group process and how, by working together, they can find better and more innovative solutions to problems. Materials Copies of "The 18th Camel" story Pen and paper Time Required 45–60 minutes Procedure: Step 1: The Camel Conundrum Give the students the story of "The 18th...

Use these rules to conduct a #GeniusHour! Students aren't always learning about what they have a passion for. Encourage kids to use this independent learning time to tap into those passions! Search #Prep4College on Facebook or Twitter for tips from the latest NHS/NJHS college admission and financial aid planning webinar. Have you heard about the...

This year's National Student Leadership Week theme, "Making a World of Difference," is especially significant for two reasons: It embraces and encourages service—a pillar of the National Honor Societies—and it supports the two-year NASSP Student Leadership Initiative: Global Citizenship. To fuel your members' creativity, we dug into the National Student Project Database to discover five clever service projects...

Now is the perfect time to start preparing for the 2018 (yes, 2018) National Council of Excellence (NCOE) award—especially if you have yet to challenge your council to strive for this recognition. The award year runs January through December to give the award committee the full scope of your council's operation over a school year. ...

NJHS Advisers— Nominate Your Outstanding Members NJHS advisers, do you have members in your chapter who go above and beyond during the school year? Applications are now open for you to nominate your students for the NJHS Outstanding Achievement Award. The award recognizes 500 exceptional NJHS students nationwide, each with a $500 award to be...

10 ways to effectively manage social media Learning is the result of personal relationships. I learned this in college from my basketball coach. Years later, I had a chance to work for him and was amazed at how well he could structure a lesson and, more impressive still, get his athletes to perform at levels...

Advisers can play a key role in encouraging kids to get help Mental health is about more than what students think and feel. I should know; I hid my true feelings for years when I was in high school, spending day after day with a fake smile on my face. Now that I'm in college...

How can advisers inspire lasting leadership values? Leadership is not simply a thing you do based on a checklist. Leadership is more like a lifestyle—a way of living that begins with a positive frame of mind. The greatest leaders are those who inspire others to become great leaders themselves. So, how do we foster an...

We would like to be among the first to wish you happy holidays. Although January 2017 marks a midpoint in the academic year, it is often a time for reflection and articulation of new goals. What is it that you wish to accomplish over the course of the year?  This academic year, we announced the...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more people than ever before are being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to a report from March 2016. Of course, teachers knew this long before any government report; they knew because IEPs pile up on their desks and autism advocates solicit their donations and...

Krysta Reed had been away from her rural west Texas school for six days on two separate trips with groups from her 147-member student council, and she had just gone through an emotional executive board shake-up. A regional event she was hosting for 500 other advisers was heavy on her mind, along with other issues...

This issue of Participation Station is all about social media. In today's day and age, social media is everywhere. It isn't just for personal use anymore; it's for advertising, entertainment, education—you name it, there is something about it on social media. As student leaders, it's important to use your social media accounts to share the...

Nice Spot of Tea Switch out that midday coffee for a cup of black tea. Think of it as a more relaxing way to get your caffeine fix. Sure, sipping on hot teas and beneficial L-Theanine amino acids can soothe your mood, but the real benefit lies in the patient and focused process of preparing...

Pumpkin Passes Want to spread Halloween cheer and raise awareness at the same time? Take a cue from St. Agnes Academy in Houston, TX. The student council held an event called Red Ribbon Week, where they planned a number of projects to raise awareness about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. On the first day...

Creating A 'Dream Team' Objective To improve the performance of a team, group, or committee through the establishment of behavioral norms and an accountability system created by the team members themselves. Materials Notebook paper, pens, sharpies, flip chart-sized Post-it notes or flip chart paper. Time Required 45 minutes Procedure Step 1: Define the "Dream Team"...

Maybe a personalized pick-me-up note is just what a student needs to start his or her week off on the right foot. Pick a few students and write an encouraging note on their desk with a dry-erase marker for them to walk in to on Monday. Do this every so often until every one of...