Kyker State Service Project Award

In 2000, the NHS & NJHS National Council approved the creation of an award to recognize the outstanding work of state Honor Society associations. While there are currently only 25 active state associations, interest exists in all 50 states for creating state organizations to further the purposes of NHS and NJHS.

We honor one of these associations each year with the Kyker Award. This award is named for Ardis Kyker, retired executive director from Minnesota who contributed to not only the development of an outstanding state association in her state, but also to the national conference, hosting the 1996 conference in Minneapolis where was celebrated the 75th anniversary of NHS. It is in honor Mrs. Kyker's hard work, dedication, and friendship that this award is presented each year.

2008 Winner
The winner of the 2008 Kyker Award for Outstanding State Association Service Project is the Connecticut Association of NHS (CANHS), Don Gates, Executive Director. CANHS has existed since 1995 under the auspices of the Connecticut Association of Schools.
In the spring of 2007, the newly-elected members of the CANHS state board of directors voted to endorse a statewide initiative that would engage many honor society chapters. Wanting to do something for those citizens of the state who have served their country in the military and are now veterans, the board organized a campaign to create 500 gift packs to give to the Veterans Home in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, which is, coincidentally, also the location of the state Honor Society conference.
More than 30 chapters contributed money or goods for the gift packs. At the state conference in May, the packs were put together by the delegates and 500 personal thank you notes were written to be included with the gifts. Donations from businesses around the state also helped in the effort.
For rallying business and community support, for including chapters from the entire state, for including a service activity as part of their annual state conference, and for enlisting the support of the state veterans office in completing their Gift-packs for Veterans project, we are proud to recognize the Connecticut Association of the National Honor Society as the winner of the 2008 Kyker Award.

In addition, we are pleased to award an Honorable Mention this year to the NJHS State Association of Oklahoma, Linda Salter, executive director, for their state-wide food drive in 2008. 100% of the NJHS member chapters in Oklahoma participated in this outstanding project. Congratulations Oklahoma NJHS.