August 21, 2017

RE: NHS/NTHS appendix to 2017-2018 student handbook

Dear Students and Parents/Guardians,

Please be aware that changes and updates have been made to the National Honor Society and National Technical Honor Society eligibility and maintenance requirements. This document contains the updated and accurate requirements. Please refer to this appendix for information about NHS/NTHS and not the 2017-2018 student handbook. If you have any questions, please contact an advisor.

NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY REQUIREMENTS

  1. To be eligible for the James S. Mullaney Chapter of the National Honor Society a student must:
  2. Be a junior or senior and have been in attendance at Blackstone Valley Tech for a period of at least one trimester.
  3. Have a weighted career grade average of 96 or above.
  4. Have no more than 6 unexcused absences in a school year (3 tardies/dismissals = 1 absence).
  5. Have no suspensions from school and may not have an excessive discipline record at Valley Techper the Faculty Council discretion; i.e., aftersessions, Incident Reports, nor level3 or 4 infractions etc.
  6. Not have anyConduct or Effort grades of3 or 4 on a report card.
  7. If a student meets the criteria listed above, he/she will receive an invitation to apply to the society(ies) andmust then complete an extensive electronic portfolio to be reviewed by the Faculty Council.The purpose of the portfolio is to demonstrate the student’s service, leadership, and character, which are the basis for selection (in conjunction with scholarship, represented by GPA).There are seven (7) members of the Faculty Council and a minimum of five (5) must approve student portfolio for acceptance into the society. Advisors will also seek information about applicant’s character and classroom behavior from academic and vocational instructors.
  1. In order to maintain membership after selection a member must:
  1. Maintain a weighted career grade average of 96 or above.
  2. Have no more than 2 unexcused absences per trimester(3 tardies/dismissals = 1 absence).
  3. Attend all society meetings which are held on Tuesdays of each B Cycle Week at 7:30 am in the Competition Center. After two unexcused absences from meetings, a member is placed on probation.
  4. Complete all required community service hours (see chart below).
  5. Be involved in at least one group community service activity each year.
  6. Participate in mandatory group fundraiser.
  7. Maintain an exemplary discipline record at Valley Tech. Excessive aftersessions, any level 3 or 4 discipline infractions and/orIncident Reports will lead to immediate suspension from the National Honor Society and dismissal pending a hearing with the Faculty Council.
  8. A suspension from school will lead to immediate dismissal from the society.
  9. If any BVT staff member completes a Member Violation Form about any member of the society(ies), he/she will be subject to a discipline hearing with the Faculty Council.

NATIONAL TECHNICAL HONOR SOCIETY REQUIREMENTS

  1. To be eligible for the Paul Sullivan Chapter of the National Technical Honor Society a student must:
  1. Be a junior or senior and have been in attendance at Blackstone Valley Tech for a period of at least one trimester.
  1. Be within the top 20% of his/her shop based on the previous year’s average of shop and related grades.
  1. Have no more than 6 unexcused absences in a school year (3 tardies/dismissals = 1 absence).
  2. Have no suspensions from school and may not have an excessive discipline record at Valley Tech per the Faculty Council discretion; i.e., aftersessions, Incident Reports, nor level 3 or 4 infractions etc.
  3. Not have anyConduct or Effort grades of 3 or 4 on a report card.
  1. If a student meets the criteria listed above, he/she will receive an invitation to apply to the society(ies) andmust then complete an extensive electronic portfolio to be reviewed by the Faculty Council. The purpose of the portfolio is to demonstrate the student’s skill, honesty, service, responsibility, scholarship, citizenship and leadership which are the basis for selection (in conjunction with their career technical grades). There are seven (7) members of the Faculty Council and a minimum of five (5) must approve student portfolio for acceptance into the society. Advisors will also seek information about applicant’s character and classroom behavior from academic and vocational instructors.

3. In order to maintain membership after selection a member must:

  1. Maintain a shop and related average that does not fall more than 5 points below the grade held when invited to apply
  2. Have no more than 2 unexcused absences per trimester (3 tardies/dismissals = 1 absence).
  3. Attend all society meetings which are held on Tuesdays of each B Cycle Week at 7:30 am in the Competition Center. After two unexcused absences from meetings, a member is placed on probation.
  4. Complete all required community service hours (see chart below).
  5. Be involved in at least one group community service activity each year.
  6. Participate in mandatory group fundraiser.
  7. Maintain an exemplary discipline record at Valley Tech. Excessive aftersessions, any level 3 or 4 discipline infractions and/or Incident Reports will lead to immediate suspension from the NationalTechnical Honor Society and dismissal pending a hearing with the Faculty Council.
  8. A suspension from school will lead to immediate dismissal from the society.
  9. If any BVT staff member completes a Member Violation Form about any member of the society(ies), he/she will be subject to a discipline hearing with the Faculty Council.

NHS and NTHS Community Service Required hours:

Summer hours / Hours per trimester
NHS / 20 hours / 10 hours
NTHS / 16 hours (related to your trade) / 8 hours (related to your trade)
Combination / 13 hours community service
12 hours of service related to your trade
(25 hours total) / 8 hours community service
8 hours of service related to your trade
(16 hours total)

**Please note** Four (4) community services hours maximum per trimester can take place in your shop. This means if you choose to fulfill community service hours by helping in your shop with cleaning, organizing, etc., when logging service hours you may only apply 4 hours to work completed in your shop per trimester. All other services hours must take place outside of BVT. (Limitations and exceptions to this policy are at the discretion of the Faculty Council.)

Please be aware of the BVT NHS/NTHS definition of community service:

  • Community Service is the act of providing voluntary work to a non –profit organization without pay or to a particular person or persons in need due to medical, physical or financial hardship. This means that all service acts must benefit the greater communityor a person(s) in need, not an entrepreneur or for-profit business. The Faculty Council reserves the right to deem activities as acceptable or unacceptable community service.
  • Doing chores or favors for a friend or family members is not considered community service.
  • NHS/NTHS community service hours must be completed outside of school time. Any work completed during your regularly scheduled school day is considered a curricular requirement and therefore cannot be considered community service.
  • The Faculty Council reserves the right to make any final decisionson whether or not a particular activity is considered community service.
  • If you are unsure if any activity that plan to complete will be considered community service under our definition, you must contact an advisor before completing the activity to insure that it will be accepted by the Faculty Council.
  • When logging hours online, you must receive approval by the activity supervisor. Members may not ask their parent(s) to sign off on service activities unless the parent is the direct supervisor for said activity.