NHS/NJHS Adviser Workshop Provides Resources, Tools To School Sponsors

CENTENNIAL – The Colorado High School Activities Association hosted its second-ever Colorado NHS and NJHS Adviser Workshop Friday at Cherry Creek School District’s Fremont Building in Centennial.

With over 95 advisers from all areas of the state registered to attend, participants represented both middle school and high school advisers who work with National Honor Society, National Junior Honor Society, National Elementary Honor Society and National Student Council students. Sessions were dedicated to honor society advising for both new and returning advisors, honor society selection procedures, a discussion around Colorado’s education issues, networking and idea sharing and concluded with a conversation around discipline and dismissal.

“I am amazed at all of the different educators from all over the state who gave up their time to be here today,” said Robyn Hamasaki, the Managing Director of Leadership Development with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), the parent organization for NHS, NJHS, NEHS and National Student Council. “So many advisers are thrown into these positions without adequate training. I feel so grateful to have this many committed Colorado advisers here – whether they’re an expert or just beginning in their role – asking the right questions, engaging with one another, and wanting to fine tune their craft.

“One of the core values of the NASSP is to make the job easier for those we serve. A second core value is that we hope to empower our school leaders and student leaders to lead our work. As a Managing Director, these dedicated educators today have inspired me to want to do even more to support them in whatever ways possible and to ensure they have the resources they need to be successful leaders in their schools.”

Event speakers included Elancia Felder, a senior program manager at the NASSP, Heather Grantham, an educator recruitment and retention specialist at the Colorado Department of Education, and Rashaan Davis, CHSAA’s Assistant Commissioner for Activities who organized today’s event.

“One of our biggest challenges is that the educator talent pipeline is drying up,” Grantham stated. “I’m here to elevate and remind educators that what they’ve chosen to do is really a good and positive thing, and that we should be encouraging others to inspire change, as well. We are hopeful that current educators and NHS sponsors will continue to elevate the profession of education so that we can continue to recruit from the best and brightest high school students and national honor societies to continue the work that we’re here doing.”

Grantham’s presentation touched on the perks of getting involved with education, including retirement benefits, salary opportunities and lifestyle.

Felder, who has nearly 19 years of experience working with honor society advisers and chapters at the NASSP, provided the bulk of the information throughout the day. She shared basic information with new advisors to ensure they have the resources they need to be successful, went through the selection process for an honor society, shared tangible documents for advisers and talked about the responsibilities of – and safeguards in place for – advisers around discipline and dismissal.

“It’s important for us to be here to hear from the people who are on the ground doing this important work, to answer their questions and to connect Colorado advisers to the resources that we have available to them nationally,” Felder said. “I know that being an educator requires giving a lot of yourself, so I want these advisers to know that I appreciate them going above and beyond for students.

“I hope advisers leave here with the tools they need to manage their chapter. I hope they leave with a sense of calmness that if they walked in here without bylaws or as only being an adviser for two weeks, they leave knowing there are resources and procedures in place to assist them.”