NEHS and America's Promise

NASSP and NAESP, parent organizations for NEHS, participate as members of the America’s Promise Alliance. As members, we have agreed to support and promote the Five Promises that guide the work of America’s Promise (AP) in the US today. During the process of creating the guidelines for NEHS, we discovered that there is a very strong correlation between the purposes and opportunities provided for NEHS chapters and the Five Promises.

• Any new program at the school level will succeed best with competent guidance and ongoing support from key personnel from the staff. According to Promise 1 from AP:

  "All children need support and guidance from caring adults in their families, at schools and in their communities. These include ongoing, secure relationships with parents as well as formal and informal relationships with teachers, mentors, coaches, youth volunteers and neighbors. Caring adults are the cornerstone of a child’s development—and for the other four Promises that build success both in childhood and adulthood. Parents come first. But children also need to experience the support from caring adults in all areas of their lives."

  We believe that the educators assigned to work with and support the activities of your NEHS chapter will serve as this type of essential guide for the outstanding students who participate.

• When developing the content of your chapter’s communications and outreach plan, you are encouraged to keep Promise 4 from America's Promise in mind:

  "An Effective Education: All children need the intellectual development, motivation and skills that equip them for successful work and lifelong learning. These result from having quality learning environments, challenging expectations and consistent guidance and mentoring."

  NEHS will contribute to a stronger, well-rounded education for all students in your building by bringing these messages to students, staff, and parents.

• Once the chapter’s personnel are in place, the work begins on creating the new chapter, planning out its activities for the year and developing methods for managing the ongoing responsibilities that come with hosting an NEHS chapter at your school.

  Again, quoting from Promise 2, “Safe Places” from America’s Promise,

  "All children need to be physically and emotionally safe wherever they are—from the actual places of families, schools, neighborhoods and communities to the virtual places of media. They also need a healthy balance between structured, supervised activities and unstructured time. It’s important for children to be safe. But safe places alone are not enough. It is equally important for children’s development that these places engage them actively and constructively."

  We believe that the meaningful activities and projects that your NEHS chapter organizes and conducts throughout the year will fulfill this promise for all students.

• In developing activities for the chapter, you are encouraged to also keep in mind Promise 3, “A Healthy Start” from America’s Promise:

  “All children need and deserve healthy bodies, healthy minds and healthful habits. These result from regular health check-ups and needed treatment, good nutrition and exercise, healthy skills and knowledge, and good role models of physical and psychological health.”

  While NEHS chapters are not designed to provide health services per se, the activities that you engage your new chapter members in and the lessons provided throughout the year can be designed to support this promise in a way that is valuable to the members and their families.

• In addition, with an emphasis on teaching and learning from service activities as one of the key elements of the ongoing work of your new chapter, you will also help to fulfill Promise 5 for your students: ‘Opportunities to Help Others’.

  “All children need the chance to make a difference in their families, at schools and in their communities. Knowing how to make a difference comes from having models of caring behavior, awareness of the needs of others, a sense of personal responsibility to contribute to the larger society, and opportunities for volunteering, leadership and service. Providing young people with opportunities to make a difference through service instills not only a sense of responsibility but of possibility. Young people want to be involved in making the world a better place; however, far too many lack meaningful opportunities to contribute.”

Service-learning activities are an essential component for all NEHS chapters helping your students see the value in making the world a better place.

These connections to the Five Promises, created through the formation of an NEHS chapter at your school, connect you to another large national network of individuals and organizations that believe in young people and in providing them the essentials for a successful life. We believe that the impact and value of your new NEHS chapter is enhanced by this relationship. We hope you agree. For more information about America’s Promise, please visit their Web site: www.americaspromise.org