National Honor Society - 1 st General Meeting

1. National Honor Society - 1st General Meeting Welcome! We are so glad that you are here. Sign-ins will be at the end of the meeting. Please make sure you sign-in before you leave today or you will not get credit for your August attendance. This meeting will last about an hour. Please plan on staying the entire time.

2. Please Welcome Your 2019-2020 Officers and Sponsors! President: Zoë Wooden Service Vice President: Christian Newton Leadership Vice President: John Martinez Senior Class Secretary: Alexandra Ojeda Junior Class Secretary: Jordan Fox Fall Events Coordinators: AloraBoyer and Jeremy Chauvin Spring Events Coordinators: Travis Collins and PriyaKirtikar Member Relations: Kaitlin Bell and Jaden Thomas Treasurer: Angelina Covey Publicist: Nastassja Rubio Faculty Sponsors: Ms. Spence (1910) and Ms. Williams (1909)

3. Remind Text Alerts for NHS Text @ahseagles to 81010!

4. NHS serves to honor those students who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service, and character. 

5. Our 2019-2020 NHS motto for the year is:

6. What does a NHS member look like? • He or she is classified as a junior or senior. (Sophomores can apply at the end of 10th grade if they have completed all course requirements.) • He or she maintains at least a 4.25 cumulative GPA throughout the school year. • He or she demonstrates excellence in character and leadership both on campus and in the community. • All members must complete a total of 30 service hours throughout the year. Fifteen of those hours need to come from NHS-sponsored events. • Each student is required to attend a leadership conference in the fall or spring semester to develop and hone his or her leadership skills. • All NHS members are also required to pay membership dues. Page 2

7. Dues are due! • $30 for Juniors and $55 for Seniors • If you turn in money at the meeting today, it must be paid in cash due to district policy. We will also collect dues at the September meeting! • Dues cover your t-shirt, membership pin, social and service events we coordinate throughout the year, our national dues, and our end-of-the-year banquet. • **The only difference between the junior and seniors dues is the cost of the senior graduation collar. • If this is a financial strain for your family, please speak to one of the sponsors, Ms. Spence (1910) or Ms. Williams (1909).

8. General Meeting Schedule • General meetings are monthly gatherings that consist of “housekeeping” items (e.g. hearing about potential fundraisers and budget updates), student service spotlights, and service opportunities. *This schedule can also be found on our NHS website. Meeting dates are subject to change due to unforeseen events/circumstances. Members will be informed well in advance when there is a change of date or location. Page 3

9. What if you have a scheduling conflict? • If you cannot attend a general meeting due to a scheduling conflict, you must complete a General Meeting Excuse Google Form located on our website under the General Meetings tab. • Failure to get a meeting excused will result in a 2 point penalty. Page 3

10. General Meeting Attendance • Members are required to attend mandatory general meetings. • A student can only excuse one general meeting per semester without penalty. If a student is unable to attend a mandatory general meeting, he or she must inform the Chapter Advisers ahead of time by completing a General Meeting Excuse Form. The member must present a logical explanation for his or her absence, or the Chapter Advisers will declare that he or she is not excused. • A point penalty will occur with either of the following situations: a student misses a general meeting without completing a General Meeting Excuse Form beforehand or a student misses an additional meeting after one has already been excused that semester. Page 8

11. What is a point penalty? A point penalty is an additional 2 service hours per infraction that the student must complete during the nine weeks period in order to remain in good standing. Failure to complete the additional service hours during the allotted time will result in the student being put on probation. How does the point penalty work? Below is an example of both point penalty scenarios. Scenario 1: In the excitement of the final school bell, Jane forgets that there is a general meeting for NHS that afternoon and goes home. Since she did not turn in a General Meeting Excuse Form beforehand (or have a legitimate reason for missing the meeting), she receives an additional 2 service hours to complete during that nine weeks. For example, if this occurred during the 1st Nine Weeks Point Check, she would have to complete 9 service points before the due date (instead of the mandatory 7 points for everyone else). Scenario 2: John turned in a General Meeting Excuse Form last month because he had a conflicting doctor’s appointment. He realizes that he also has a commitment tomorrow at the same time as the NHS general meeting, but he’s already used his one excused meeting this semester. Since he misses an additional meeting after the excused one, he receives an additional 2 service hours to complete during that nine weeks. Page 8

12. Point System Overview By the end of the whole school year, each member is required to have obtained at least 15 NHS service hours plus another 15 NHS/non-NHS service hours for a total of 30 service hours. This means that at least 15 of the 30 hours for the school year must be NHS service points. 1 hour served at a NHS-sponsored event = 1 NHS service point 1 hour served at a non-NHS event = 1 non-NHS service point NHS-sponsored event: An event that is supported by the organization and has a corresponding Sign Up Genius. A running list of NHS-sponsored events is provided on the website. Non-NHS event: An event that the student seeks out and is approved in advance by the Service Vice President. Please see the pre-approval form for non-NHS events for further details. Page 4

13. Point Check Due Dates • At the end of the first semester, students must have at least 7 NHS service points in order to remain in good standing. The remaining required NHS service points can be earned in the second semester. • The 15 points for each semester must be earned by participating in a minimum of 4 total events (NHS-sponsored and non-NHS events combined). Page 4

14. Counting Events • Each semester you need FOUR total events. It doesn’t matter if they’re NHS or non-NHS events. • A recurring event throughout the nine weeks only counts as ONE event. For example, if you teach Sunday School every week, all of your hours count, but it only counts as ONE total event per nine weeks. • **Note - If you have a recurring event (repeated dates for event within a nine weeks), you must complete a NEW pre-approval form at the start of a new nine weeks.  Make sure to list the dates that this event occurs on your pre-approval form!  This must be attached EACH nine weeks to your point form.

15. Point Check Due Dates *The Final Senior Point Check only applies to graduating seniors. All point and event requirements must be met in order to earn your cords for graduation. Failure to maintain the minimum service points required at each point check will result in probation. If you encounter an error in the points online: First, you should check your own records against what is online. Second, you should contact the NHS Secretary and Chapter Advisers. Page 4

17. Pre-Approval Form for Non-NHS Events • All email requests should be sent to: serviceahs@gmail.com • In order to guarantee a response, you must email your pre-approval form at least 5 days in advance to the event in question. You may send in your form any time prior to the event (e.g. two or three days before event), but there is no guarantee that your request form will be reviewed prior to the event taking place. • Please check your email for correspondence regarding the event’s approval status. • If the event is approved, please print out the approval email/original request form and attach it to your service point form. You will not gain any non-NHS service points without the approval email. You still need an adult volunteer from the non-NHS event to sign off on your point sheet. Page 6

18. **Please do not email about events that have already happened, how you forgot to email about said event, if you heard it was approved and it wasn’t, etc. All emails must be sent before an event takes place. Name: Email: Event: Sponsor: Date: Description of Service: Page 6

19. Penalties, Probation, and Dismissal Point System • A member must obtain the required number of points for each nine weeks point check. • Semester requirements must also be met. • At the end of the first semester, students must have at least 7 NHS service points in order to remain in good standing. The remaining required NHS service points can be earned in the second semester. • The 15 points for each semester must be earned by participating in a minimum of 4 total events (NHS-sponsored and non-NHS events combined). • If a member does not meet the point/event requirements of a nine weeks or a semester, he or she will be put on probation. The student will have until the next immediate nine weeks deadline to get back in good standing. Failure to regain good standing will result in dismissal from the organization. Page 7

20. What is probation? Probation is a warning given by the Advisers that the student’s membership is in jeopardy. The warning is written and must be signed by the student and a parent/guardian to ensure that both are aware of the possibility of dismissal. What is the purpose of probation? The intention of the probation notice is to enable the student to make up the deficiency for which he or she was placed on probation. The student must remedy the infraction by the next deadline in order to be considered in good standing. If the deficiency is not corrected, the member will be dismissed from the organization.

21. Penalties, Probation, and Dismissal GPA • If a student’s cumulative GPA falls below the required 4.25, he or she will be placed on probation and given a period of one semester to restore the cumulative GPA to a 4.25. • Failure to maintain this standard will result in dismissal. Page 7

22. Penalties, Probation, and Dismissal Social Conduct • Members must continue to demonstrate excellence in character. • If a student develops an excessive amount of tardies, D-Halls, or Saturday classes, he or she will be required to attend a conference with the Chapter Advisers and Principal to determine his or her standing in the organization. • In the case of behavior referrals to the Assistant Principal for discipline, the member will be required to attend a conference with the Chapter Advisers and Principal to determine a plan for correcting the problem and a probation period. At the second referral, for any reason, the student faces the possibility for dismissal. Page 7

23. Let us know what you think! • Ideas for social events throughout the semester. • Recommendations for fundraisers or spirit nights. • Questions or suggestions for our leadership board. • Member Relations: Kaitlin Bell and Jaden Thomas

24. This is a fundraising year!

25. Non-NHS Service Suggestion List • Check the NHS website for a growing list of Humble and Houston area non-profits and organizations that might need your help! • Please email the service account if the organization is not taking volunteers, if the contact information is inaccurate, if you are not getting a response, or if you have an organization to add to the list! • This list should help you be more proactive in seeking out non-NHS point opportunities.

26. Service Spotlight “HAAM is an interfaith organization that helps community residents in crisis by providing essential resources to move toward self-sufficiency.”

27. HAAM’s Impact • In the city of Humble an alarming 20% of residents live below the poverty line, higher than both the county and the state and considerably higher than the nation as a whole.35% of students attending Humble ISD qualify for free or reduced lunch, and we have over 1000 homeless students in the district. The need is great for the services HAAM provides. • HAAM is the first line of defense to combat poverty in our area. • Education classes • Rent assistance • Job training • Food pantry • Assistance with medical care • Two resale shops • Harvey Relief

29. Want to Volunteer with HAAM? Volunteer Coordinator: Cathy Schrof cschrof@haamministries.org 281-446-3663 x 120 Check the HAAM website for information / their youth volunteer application or contact Cathy.

30. Upcoming Service Opportunities Reminder: If you sign up for an event, you need to go! If plans change and you can no longer make it, delete your name from the SignUpGenius so someone else can take your spot.

31. Custodial clean-up work days after school will be posted soon.

32. The Freshmen Learning Lab is changing a bit this year. It will now be on Monday and Wednesday. Stay tuned for opportunities to help tutor some of our struggling Eagles.

33. Jesse Jones Trail Clean Up Day When things cool down a bit, we will be heading back out to our trail at Jesse Jones Park in Humble. Be on the lookout for dates of when you can come join us at the park!

34. It’s Fall Festival Season! Check the website as dates roll in for fall festivals.

35. Sign in is by grade level! Find the officer in charge of your alpha!