CENTENNIAL – Professional development is invaluable for adults who dedicate their lives to molding future leaders, but opportunities to foster that development can often be difficult to find.
On Friday at the Fremont Building, the Colorado High School Activities Association hosted the first-ever Colorado NJHS and NHS Adviser Workshop, organized and run by CHSAA assistant commissioner Rashaan Davis, for National Honor Society and National Junior Honor Society advisers. The event provided an excellent learning experience for local advisers, as well as an opportunity to freely exchange knowledge with one another.
“The advisers get a chance to connect with each other, with other advisers in the same roles,” said Elancia Felder, Senior Program Manager of Honor Societies at the National Association of Secondary School Principals. “You have a mix of pretty new advisers and those with a lot of experience, so they get to talk to each other. They also get to hear from the national office on what the correct policies and procedures are, and they get to take that back to the local level to best serve their students to best serve their students.”
Over 45 advisers attended the event, coming from all areas of the state, representing both middle school and high school. Sessions included Introduction to Honor Society Advising, Honor Society Selection Procedures, Colorado Education Issues, Networking/Idea Sharing and Discipline and Dismissal.
Speakers included Felder, Chuck Puga, a retired principal, and Davis.
One of the many objectives of the day was to assist attendees to better help them understand how to build connections between honors-level academics, varsity athletics, and activity participants. Other discussion topics included community service, equity, and Colorado-specific issues related to the state’s schools.
“There were a lot of good questions from the advisers and everyone seemed to be really engaged,” Felder said. “I’m really happy to be here.”
The CHSAA office, along with the National Association of Secondary Schools Principals (NASSP), the parent organization for NHS, NJHS, NEHS, and National Student Council is working together to provide another opportunity for classroom teachers.
“As we look at the CHSAA mission, it is another opportunity for us to continue to share with others that we are who we say we are,” Davis said. “Specifically, this partnership furthers our Mission to ‘act as an integral component of the educational process.’ It also resonates with our Core Values, most importantly, ‘participation in athletics and activities are education-based.’ It was a great day for all attendees and for CHSAA.”