Becoming an Honor Society Leader: How to Start Your Own Chapter

Becoming an Honor Society Leader: How to Start Your Own Chapter

Do you want to become an Honor Society leader? It might not be as hard as you think. Click here to learn how to start your own chapter.

Congratulations! Your teenage child has consistently been getting all As lately. Unfortunately, there is no Honor Society at your child’s high school to acknowledge this achievement.

As a result, your child decided to start the school’s first al Honor Society. What is a chapter and what is the Honor Society you ask? Well, the Honor Society is an society for students and professionals who seek to maximize their success.

When we talk about a chapter of the Honor Society, we are referring to a local branch of the Honor Society organization. For example, if the Los Angeles High School had its own Honor Society club in the school, that club would be its own chapter of the Honor Society organization.

To make sure that your child finishes creating the local high school’s first ever Honor Society, we are describing in detail what it takes to create an Honor Society chapter.

Tell your child to get all his or her book smart friends together because, with the information your child will receive from this blog, your child’s Honor Society chapter will be a success!

What Is a Chapter of the Honor Society

As mentioned earlier, a chapter meaning is a local branch of an organization. In this case, that organization is Honor Society.

Think of the Honor Society as a trunk of a tree. Each branch on that tree is a different chapter of the organization. Although there are different chapters, or branches, of the Honor Society in different parts of the country, they are all part of the same “tree” that is the Honor Society organization.

Each chapter of the Honor Society can also include multiple different Honor Society clubs in multiple different schools within a designated area if it so pleases. For example, all the Honor Society clubs in different schools across central California could be a part of the Central California Honor Society Chapter.

A chapter can be as small or as large as designated. This also means that a chapter can include as many or as little school Honor Society clubs as it sees fit. 

When starting a new chapter of the Honor Society, you must first commit to completing the process that it will take to do so. This is because starting a new Honor Society chapter could take you up to 40 – 60 hours per week to get off the ground.

Multi-chapter organizations, like the Honor Society, function similarly to franchise businesses. This is true because different chapters of the Honor Society must still uphold the same mission as the global Honor Society. This is similar to franchise businesses in that smaller branches of franchise businesses must uphold the mission of the parent business. 

How to Start an Honor Society Chapter

To start an Honor Society chapter, you must reach out to the honor society organization’s head office. When on the Honor Society office website, first go to “start a chapter.”  Once here, fill out the application for an Honor Society chapter leader on the website page.

You must then find a faculty advisor at your school who is willing to dedicate the time and energy to sponsor the club and supervise all its meetings and events. Soon you will receive all the necessary paperwork that you will have to fill out to create a chapter.

This paperwork will ensure that the honor society recognizes the organization. It will also ensure that the school recognizes the organization. After completing the necessary paperwork, feel free to reach out to other established Honor Society leaders around the country for guidance on how to structure your chapter.  

Other Forms of Honor Societies

Did you know that there are other types of Honor Societies outside of the standard type that we all know? That’s right. Just like there are special performing arts schools and STEM schools, there are also Honor Society organizations like the National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA) and the Science National Honor Society (SNHS).

How to Start a Dance Honor Society Chapter

To start a chapter of the National Honor Society for Dance Arts, go to the National Honor Society for Dance Art’s website. Once there, complete a chapter application.  

How to Start a Science Honor Society Chapter

To start a chapter in the Science National Honor Society, go to the Science National Honor Society website. Once there, enter all the required information and submit an application.

Beware, that you will probably have to pay an application and/or registration fee along with your application. You will also most likely have to send the Science National Honor Society a written statement from the school Principal requesting that an SNHS Chapter be at your school. Once you receive a document confirming your status as a Science National Honor Society, all you’ll have to do to stay official is pay your yearly club dues.

Benefits of Starting an Honor Society

Starting an Honor Society chapter, regardless of the type, helps children build character and leadership skills. It also helps children build a network of their academically high achieving peers.

 A network of faculty members and adults can also be built. The latter network can even one day give your child a recommendation letter.

Starting an Honor Society chapter can even help your child receive a scholarship to college one day. If nothing else, it will look good on your child’s resume and college applications. 

Characteristics you will need as an Honor society leader include passion, commitment, organization, strategy, and communication. You will also need to have strong public relation skills to improve lead member engagement and outreach. Good management and team-building skills are also a plus. Finally, you will, of course, need to get good academic grades to stay in the organization yourself. Preferably all As and all Bs. 

To help your child get academically inspired, have him or her check out the collection of achievements of past Honor Society leaders at the Honor Society Museum.