Our Purpose |
The purpose of the organization shall be to create an enthusiasm for scholarship, to stimulate a desire to render service, to encourage a concern for character development, and to advance the work of the Honor Society among all Broward County Chapters.
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Who are we?
As an organization, The Executive Committee is committed to pursuing the Honor Society values of scholarship, citizenship, leadership, service, and character. The Broward County Chapter of the Honor Society governs high school and middle school Honor Society chapters in Broward County. BCHS host's monthly meetings to which schools are asked to send representatives of their chapter, a typical BCHS meeting normally includes:
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History of BCHSThe Broward County Honor Society (BCHS) began as District 21 of the Florida Chapter of the National Honor Society (FCNHS). While most FCNHS Districts were multi-county, District 21 was one of two FCNHS districts that consisted of only one county, Broward. As a result, the NHS chapters in Broward County started meeting once per month as opposed to the three district meetings that were mandated by the state and established their own Brain Brawl Competition between high schools. District 21 would pay for their winning Brain Brawl Competition School Team to attend and compete at the FCNHS State Convention.
In 1989 The School Board of Broward County created the position of Student Activities Liaison and the Department of Student Activities. The coordination of the county’s National Honor Society Chapters, as well as most non-athletic student activities was turned over to this department. A single county membership policy for high schools as well as a county awards program was put into place in 1990. Until the school year 1999-2000 the Florida High School Activities Association sponsored the FCNHS. In that year, following a massive investigation of the FHSAA by the Florida Legislature, the FHSAA was forced to divest it self of all non-athletic activities (NHS, Student Council, Debate, Band, Chorus, etc.). Sponsorship of the FCNHS as well as the state student council organization went to the Florida Association of School Administrators, (FASA) specifically the Florida Association of Secondary School Principals. Attendance at the FCNHS Convention started to drop in 1989 and spiraled downward year after year. In 2006 changes were made at FASA that resulted in the appointment of Michael Roland as State Executive Director for FCNHS. Over the following three years attempts were made to revive the sagging state NHS program to no avail. It seemed that on a state level, school NHS chapters were not interested in a state project, running for state office, participating in Brain Brawl or attending the state convention. Finally, after the 2008 “State Convention”, which was attended by 21 schools (18 from Broward County) and fewer that 120 delegates, FASA followed a recommendation from Mr. Roland and dissolved the FCNHS. The fact that only one school in the entire state objected to this action is further proof that there was little interest in a state honor society association. On the other hand, between 1989 to 2006, the BCNHS continued to grow. The county chapter expanded to include NJHS chapters, improved its Brain Brawl Competition, wrote its own constitution, adopted numerous county projects and initiated it’ own county convention. In 2015, recognizing that there is no provision in the National Constitution for County Chapters, the BCNHS changed its name to the Broward County Chapter of the Honor Society. In 2018, in an attempt to simplify the name, BCCHS became the Broward County Honor Society(BCHS). Today, the BCHS is the only multi-chapter Honor society organization in the state of Florida. The BCHS continues to meet once a month, sponsor it’s own high school officer training workshop, Brain Brawl Competition, a number of countywide service projects, a middle and high school awards program, it’s own newsletter, the county Dodge Ball Championship and over 300 high school and middle school members and sponsors attend the BCHS annual county convention. |
National Honor Society and Broward County Honor Society
The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) sponsors both the National Honor Society and the National Junior Honor Society on the national level. The national activities of both organizations are coordinated through that organization’s Student Activities Office.
Affiliation with the National Honor Society’s national organization has been recommended for high schools as membership in this organization can be placed on high school transcripts and is looked upon favorably by many colleges and universities. In addition, schools that are affiliated with the national organization receive a monthly magazine and have access to NHS pins, shirts, stoles, etc. It is very important to note that both the NHS and NJHS logos have copyright protection and the national office vigorously defends that protection. However, with the increase of the national affiliation fee to $385 per year, high school chapters have to determine if the services they receive from the national office equal the price paid for affiliation. Affiliation with the national office is not recommended for middle schools. NJHS membership does not carry over into high school. In fact, a student is not eligible for high school honor society membership until the start of the second semester of his/her sophomore year. Students are eligible for membership in middle school honor society at the start of their second semester of sixth (6th) grade. Unless a middle school is committed to the purchase of official NHS paraphernalia and to receiving the Leadership in Student Activities magazine they might want to look hard at the annual affiliation fee. Finally, with regard to middle schools, Broward County has no single membership policy covering all public middle schools. Each middle school can develop its own policy as long as that policy is in line with national rules and is approved by the school’s administration. The Broward County Honor Society has been tasked with developing its own pin, membership cards, certificates and graduation stoles that can be used by both high schools and middle schools. The logo of the BCHS is not copyright protected and can be used on any shirt, document, etc. a high or middle school wishes. The high school honor society membership policies adopted by Broward County for all public high schools are not entirely agreed to by the national organization. While the county requirements are specifically in line with NHS membership rules, the national office does not like the idea of students applying for membership nor, does it like the limits our county puts on the authority of the five-member faculty committee. National still believes that the Faculty Committee should reach out and select the membership in NHS. In our county, the procedure is to give every second semester Sophomore who has an unweighted GPA of 3.0 or better an application to become an honor society member. The role of the Faculty Committee is to confirm that membership applications are complete and accurate and to hear cases of dismissal from Honor Society. Finally, be aware that there is no such thing as “Automatic Dismissal” from either middle or high school honor societies Broward County will continue to use the procedure for dismissal found in both the NJHS and NHS national handbooks. |
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