Do you want to attend the Fall 2015 Conference?

Our chapter has been invited to attend the state Fall Conference, which takes place on November 13th. I need to have a clear idea of our interest in attending by November 5th. That is next week's mandatory meeting.

The state meeting will count as 2 chapter meetings, and attending the scheduled workshops will be worth 2 chapter service hours. In addition, it's a chance to meet other NHS members around the state, and to get some leadership/character advice and/or experience.

Please read the following letter and itinerary:

Please submit your interest via this form.

If enough students wish to check out this gathering of New Hampshire chapters of NHS, I will go forward with organizing a field trip. If interest is low, we will not go and the field trip will not run.

Article IV and Article V improvement workshops continue

Greetings Members,

Based on feedback from last year, we're trying to improve NHS policy in small "chunks" (instead of the improvement committee project we attempted last year).

The first topic up for improvement is our meeting and meeting attendance policies. Meeting attendance expectations must be high enough for meetings to be effective ways to communicate while low enough that they don't feel unfairly burdensome.

On Thursday, October 22, a small team of NHS members took the first crack at updating our policy to match those goals.

Please fill out this form. In it, you will find three ideas proposed by the October 22nd improvement committee.

This Thursday (October 29th) we will discuss the results at this week's optional meeting. We will then make changes to the bylaws that can be voted on during our November 5th mandatory meeting.

Again, please give your feedback on the current language of Article IV and Article V by using this form.

Mr. Ahnert

Thursday October 15 Optional Meeting Attendance

I was looking forward to getting back to business with National Honor Society; I really was. However, my morning and my new family had different plans.

It's important to me that members feel like their efforts are being noticed, which is why I'm taking the time to make an extra post about the subject.

For starters, it was one of the goals we set forth last year that I would reduce my presence in order to allow the officers to really be the individuals in charge of the club. Obviously, Henry (my son) made the plan become very real, very fast. I'd like to take a moment to thank Nick, Rachel, Brian, Nikki, and Julienne for staying in touch with me while I've been out, and running meetings in my absence. It was not the intent that I go completely missing!

And secondly, I'd like to assure the members who have been showing to meetings that these officers have been doing their jobs and recording your attendance. I have already checked with Nick today, and I know he has a list of names that he will get to Brian who in turn will add an attendance credit to each of your records.

Finally, as I continue to look for ways to improve the NHS membership experience while maintaining NHS integrity, I would like to put our attendance policies squarely in our sights. Next Thursday, October 22nd is an optional meeting, and the topic of discussion will be attendance. We will work in committee to examine our current system, and we will recommend a change to be voted on at the November 5th mandatory meeting.

For my part, I am still working with the school to get a second adviser so that I am not the sole adult in charge of unlocking theaters and classrooms, answering questions, signing forms, and all the other ways in which I feel I have not been available enough this year because of the changes in my life. That said, I am available R3 in room 341 and R4 in my office for your questions today. Don't hesitate to track me down.

Mr. Ahnert