National Conference Report 2006

When most people think of Orlando, Florida, either a famous mouse or oranges come to mind. For 755 Honor Society students and advisers from all over the country, the city now brings to mind the 2006 NHS &NJHS National Conference held there November 3–5 at the Doubletree Universal Hotel.

The theme for the national conference is, "A Celebration of Excellence." The weekend-long conference was full of celebrations both large and small, and excellence was found in the presentations of speakers, the quality of the workshops, and networking sessions, and of course in the lives of the outstanding students and professional educators who participated in all of the events.

For those who haven't attended a national conference, the event begins on Friday with registration and orientation and ends with a closing general session on Sunday morning. Between these two events can be found one exciting experience after another. Within the conference was a special competition, the NHS Scholars' Bowl®.

This year's conference was the 14th national conference and was attended by NHS and NJHS chapters from 30 states and several overseas locations. One-fifth of the participants came from NJHS chapters, the largest middle level delegation of all the national conferences. Chapters came from large schools and small; from urban, rural, and suburban locations; and from coast to coast—an experience in diversity for all. Let's take a look at some of the highlights of the 2006 meeting.

Day 1: The opening general session took place starting at 7 p.m. on Friday. Delegates were welcomed by the conference emcees, Ben and Mary Brinkopf, students from The Canterbury School in Ft. Myer, Florida, (shown below with Rocco Marano, (left), Director and David Cordts (right), Associate Director, NHS &NJHS). In addition, Vince Bertram, incoming Chair of the NHS &NJHS National Council offering his congratulatory and welcoming remarks to the audience as he presented the emcees with the official conference gavel. The national anthem was sung by members of the Tri-M Music Honor Society, of Dr. Phillips High School from Orlando, Florida.

Following the welcoming remarks by National Director of NHS &NJHS, Rocco Marano, the group was introduced to the keynote speaker for the evening, Keith Hawkins. Keith presented an energetic and motivational message entitled, "To Lead is a Gift." His message to the delegates was that we can change the lives of people we encounter as we lose our self doubt and find our self courage. Learn more about Keith and his message at www.keithhawkins.com.

Following the general session, and while the attending advisers participated in their orientation session, student delegates participated in the Conference Service Project. Delegates helped make book marks to be shared with students in the greater-Orlando area through the offices of A Gift for Teaching, a non-profit support organization for students and teachers in central Florida. In addition, attending chapters were invited to donate new or gently used books to the organization. This year, more than 3,000 bookmarks were made and nearly 500 books collected as the conference donation in service to needy children.

As Day 1 of the conference came to a close, Teresa Huggins (NY) provided delegates with a "Tranquility Session" to end the day. Since some delegates had been traveling all day, and others had spent much of the day at one of Orlando's famous theme parks (having arrived on Thursday to take advantage of the entertainment offerings), the opportunity to finally get some sleep was a welcome directive.

Day 2: Saturday started out with a continental breakfast for students in the hotel. Advisers were treated to a breakfast and short program sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa, the nation's leading honor society for 2-year college students. PTK has been a sponsoring organization for the national conference since 1993–a good friend to the Honor Societies.

Everyone returned to the auditorium for the morning general session. Featured speaker on Saturday morning was Karen Dawson, motivational speaker and educator from Missouri. Karen's theme was, "Laughter, Passion, and Purpose" where she focused on the lessons that life has brought her way, chiefly among them being the importance of service to others. Karen's wit and wisdom provided and entertaining and inspirational start to Day 2.

The general session was followed by the Criteria Sessions–large-group presentations focusing on the foundations of Honor Society membership. The following sessions were held:

Academic Integrity &Character: What Will You Do or Not Do to Succeed? Don McCabe, Rutners University and the Center for Academic Integrity at Duke University. (This session was sponsored by the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.)

Leadership: Let's Get it Started, Karen Dawson, Missouri.

Scholarship: Personal Foundations of Scholastic Achievement, Teresa Huggins, New York.

Service: Gargantuan Service Projects, Ann Postlewaite, Minnesota.

Citizenship: It's Your Responsibility, Jeff Sherrill, NASSP.

While students were engaged with the presenters in the Criteria Sessions, advisers participated in an Idea Session which allowed them to share ideas and projects from their chapters.

Later during the lunch period, students were given the same opportunity to network by attending one of the Idea Sharing sessions facilitated by experienced advisers and national staff members. The afternoon was filled with additional small group workshops on a variety of topics to help students and advisers strengthen their chapters at the local level.

The third general session held Saturday afternoon featured the final competition in the 2006 NHS Scholars' Bowl®. This program feature of the national conference is sponsored by Pearson Prentice Hall, the nation's leading publisher for secondary education.

Teams begin the competition by taking the Qualifying Examinations on Friday afternoon. Round 1 of the quick-response sessions took place on Friday evening. Eighteen teams participated in this year's competition. By Saturday, eight teams remained in the semi-finals. The finals, held at 4 p.m., featured competition among the top four winning teams. When it was all over, Plano High School (TX) (pictured below) was declared the National Champion. In addition, second place was won by Clear Lake High School (TX), third place by LaBelle HS (FL), and fourth place by Seminole HS (FL). For a more detailed report on this year's competition, visit www.nhs.us/scholarsbowl.

Following the final round of the NHS Scholars' Bowl competition, awards were presented to the winning teams and then the 2006 winners of the Outstanding Service Project awards were announced. Chapters from ten schools that had submitted applications when registering for this year's conference were announced as this year's winners. Click here to read the Profiles of the winning projects for 2006.

The award plaques were generously donated by our conference sponsor, Herff Jones, Inc.

Following the awards, delegates had time for dinner on their own. Later in the evening, attendees were treated to the talents of hypnotist Tom DeLuca. This presentation and several workshop sessions during the day were sponsored by our colleagues from the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, an Honor Society for students in their first two years of college.

NSCS and Phi Theta Kappa are but two of the groups that collaborated in support of this year's conference. Eleven colleges and universities signed on as Collegiate Friends of NHS &NJHS for the 2006 conference. A list of these supporting institutions with links to their web sites is available at www.nhs.us/collegiatefriends . NHS and NJHS are grateful for this show of support and encourage all members to learn more about these educational institutions as they consider their options for post-secondary education.

Day 3: Sunday morning featured the closing general session of the conference. Guest speaker for the session was Mirta Ojito, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and educator, currently working as a Professor of Journalism at Columbia University.

Ms. Ojito addressed the group concerning her experiences as a Cuban-born immigrant to the US during the time of the Mariel boatlift. Her amazing story of personal growth and achievement inspired the attendees. Ms. Ojito's presentation was sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa who recognized her as their Distinguished PTK Alumna last year. (Visit www.mirtaojito.com for more information on this speaker.)

The national office wishes to thank the Florida NHS chapters from The Canterbury School and Spruce Creek High School for their valuable support of the conference. We are also grateful to the delegation from Minneapolis Public Schools for their assistance in preparing and facilitating the Conference Service Project. In addition, the many speakers and presenters, both students and advisers, who helped make this year's conference a success, are to be thanked for their valuable contributions to the experience. The giving, however, was two-way—the positive impressions about students and our organizations are important side benefits to this conference. As one sponsor responded after the conference, "I am always inspired and energized by the enthusiasm of the NHS &NJHS members. What an amazing group of students!" Simply put, without all of these collaborators and supporters, the national conference could not take place.

Next year's national conference will be held November 9-11, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia. Conference registration brochures and general information will be posted at www.nhs.us/conferences and published in Leadership for Student Activities magazine starting in March. We hope your chapter will plan now to join us in Atlanta for next year's "Celebration of Excellence."