If this message is not displaying properly, click here to launch your browser.

February 1, 2017

In This Issue

1. Project Grants
2. Scholarships and the Common Reader for 2016-2017
3. 2017 African American Read-In
4. Need-Based Scholarships
5. Outstanding Advisor Awards
6. Summer Study Stipends for Junior Members of NEHS
7. Intellectual Freedom Challenge Winners

From the Central Office of National English Honor Society and Sigma Tau Delta, we bring you greetings as February dawns. Those of you on something close to traditional calendars will hit the 100-day mark of this school year early in the month. February is often the time for important educational announcements; seniors receive notifications of university acceptances and begin making final decisions about their future educational institutions. For all students, the middle months of the semester are filled with concentration and study as curricula pushes more deeply into subject matter.

February literary birthdays include Langston Hughes (1st), Joan Lowery Nixon (3rd), Jacqueline Woodson (12th), Toni Morrison (18th), and John Steinbeck (27th). "World Read Aloud Day" falls on the 16th and "Digital Learning Day" on the 23rd.

This issue of NEHSXpress focuses on the following—a call for Project Grants applications for fall 2017, updates on merit scholarships, the announcement of the Intellectual Freedom Challenge results, information from NCTE concerning the 2017 African American Read-In, applications for Summer Study Stipends for juniors, and the deadlines for Need-Based Scholarship applications and Outstanding Advisor Award nominations. We hope you find the information helpful; please send news about your chapter activities to NEHS Director, Dave Wendelin.

Project Grants

We urge chapters to consider designing a project to make an impact in your community next fall. Project Grants for up to $200 in funds to support local chapter activities that meet the mission of NEHS are available each semester. Historically, we have had more money available than is requested, so the odds your project will be approved are great! Applications for grants must be submitted by May 5 to be utilized during the first semester of the 2017-2018 school year.

Project Grant Guidelines and Application Instructions

Scholarships and the Common Reader for 2016-2017

Scholarship essays based on the Common Reader, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, have been submitted and are currently being assessed by NEHS Chapter Advisors. We received 238 essays this year. Final scholarship decisions will be made by the Advisory Council in late March in Louisville, KY, during the Sigma Tau Delta 2017 International Convention, and students will be notified soon thereafter of the results.

Looking ahead to the 2017-2018 school year, we welcome suggestions for a Common Reader. We seek texts, either fiction or non-fiction, modern or classic, that present challenging and interesting content for senior NEHS members wishing to write for scholarships. If you have suggestions for texts—most particularly titles that currently are NOT used as part of traditional curricula—please send them to NEHS Director, Dave Wendelin.

2017 African American Read-In

Chapters are invited to serve as hosts for a 2017 African American Read-In during the month of February. We urge you to make literacy a significant part of Black History Month by hosting and coordinating Read-Ins in your communities. Hosting a Read-In is as simple as bringing together school and community members to share a book or as elaborate as working with libraries to present public readings and displays.

National Council of Teachers of English provides further information on

• hosting a 2017 African American Read-In; and
• lessons and resources for African American Read-in.

Need-Based Scholarships

NEHS wishes to support students who have been active participants in National English Honor Society and who qualify for a need-based award due to income and/or family circumstance. Four (4) $1,000 scholarships are available this year.

These awards are competitive in nature and will be evaluated by members of the NEHS Advisory Council. Applications are due March 13.

View: Need-Based Scholarship Guidelines and Application Process

Outstanding Advisor Awards

The John L. Manear Outstanding Advisor Award will be presented annually to one Advisor who has given generously of time, talent, creativity, and leadership to a local NEHS chapter. The award recognizes Advisors who foster the spirit of academic excellence and community service in their work with chapter members. The recipient of the John L. Manear Outstanding Advisor Award will receive a $500 check from National English Honor Society and a plaque. Two additional awards of $250 will be available to recognize the contributions of other nominees. Nominations are due April 3.

Summer Study Stipends for Junior Members of NEHS

It is not too early for current junior members of NEHS to begin to plan to apply for a Summer Study Stipend. These $750 awards are intended to support students who have been accepted to and will be attending an academic study program that will take place during summer of 2017. Applications for this competitive award will be accepted from Monday, April 3 through Monday, May 1, 11:59 p.m. Central Daylight Time (CDT).

View: Summer Study Stipend Award and Application Process

Blogs from last year's recipients, Olivia Horne from Florida Virtual School, FL, and Olivia Montine from Nashua High School, NH, will be published in February; we encourage prospective applicants to read about the educational experiences these two young women had last summer.

Intellectual Freedom Challenge Winners

Congratulations to the following students for submitting excellent essays to the Intellectual Freedom Challenge. Each will receive $100 from NEHS plus a $25 gift certificate from Better World Books, Additionally, their NEHS chapters will receive $50 for encouraging them to enter. The winners are:

• Juliana Ancalmo, Damascus High School, MD
• Michael Casey, Saint Mary's Hall, TX
• Rebekah Castano, Westminster Christian School, FL
• Claire Easton, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, CA
• Marcus Huetter, Seton La Salle High School, PA
• Madison McElwee, Central High School, TX
• Meera Karkar, Saint Mary's Hall, TX
• Gabrielle Lewis, River Hill High School, MD
• Chelsea Liu, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, CA
• Hanna Reid, Purdy High School, MO
• Kyle Shreve, Tuscarora High School, MD
• Grace Zhou, George Walton Comprehensive High School, GA

NEHS, Department of English, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115-2863
E-mail nehs@niu.edu © 2017 NEHS, all rights reserved