We’ve come a long way! The First Annual MASC State Convention was held in 1992. It was held at the Radisson Riverfront Hotel and was hosted by Swartz Creek High School. About 400 students and advisors from around the state spend two days sharing ideas and learning from each other. On February 29th more than 2200 student leaders and their advisors will be gathering in Grand Rapids for our organization’s 29th Annual State Conference.
One of the recent additions to the conference schedule has been the advisor program on Day Two of the conference. We have been fortunate to have had advisor training sessions presented by Dave Conlon (ON), Terri Johnson (MO), Andy Costanzo (PA) , Felix Yerace (PA) and Terry D’Imperio (NY). Legal updates presented by Kevin Sutton have always been well received.
While looking through my collection of Leadership magazines, I ran across the January 2004 issue. The cover caught my eye as the focus of the issue was clearly legal issues regarding student activities and advising. Four articles in particular caught my eye. Sharing them with you seemed to a good lead up to Kevin Sutton’s presentation this year. The articles deal with contract basics, concerns regarding student injuries, student due process and rights of controversial student groups. The last article might be of particular interest in the months leading up to the November election. As in previous “From the Archives”, I have also included a leadership activity that might be used in a leadership class and an article regarding NHS. This month’s activity involves making a CD (or album) cover that reflects personal values. It was written by Lori Kiblinger, this years NAWD Earl Reum Award winner for excellence in advisor training. The NHS article gives suggestions for creating a chapter handbook. This would a great legacy activity for the current leaders of your school’s chapter.
See you in Grand Rapids,
Tom Heethuis,