Intellectual Freedom Challenge
This NEHS competition is exclusively for junior and sophomore members of active NEHS chapters and is held in conjuction with the American Library Association's annual celebration of Banned Books Week, scheduled this year for for September 23-29. The Intellectual Freedom Challenge invites NEHS members to submit well-reasoned, argumentative essays about the use of controversial texts that have been or may be challenged due to theme, content, or language. Successful students receive book gift certificates as well as a monetary Crafton Award. Essays will be accepted from September 4, 2018 through October 22, 2018.
Membership
NEHS is open to high school students and select faculty who have demonstrated exceptional ability in such areas as literary analysis, media studies, composition, linguistic study, and creative writing, and who meet the requirements of membership.
NEHS Members Inducted
2017-2018
Membership Increase
2017-2018
Chapters
Each chapter plans and directs a program of activities in order to develop the community of people who are interested in English. Participation in chapter activities is one of the most valuable benefits of NEHS membership; the kinds of appropriate activities are limited only by the members' imaginations.
The Common Readers
NEHS will embark on a new path for the Merit Scholarship competition for the 2018-2019 school year by giving NEHS members a choice between two novels. These novels have some similarities but are set in different eras, one in Ohio in 1977, the other in China and Japan in 1937. One deals with a family tragedy, an event that exposes fault lines within the family; the other, set against the backdrop of the Japanese invasion of China, carefully and beautifully unveils human kindness and weakness. Applicants for the Merit Scholarships are to select ONE of these two texts as the basis of their application submissions, which will be due January 16, 2019.
Scholarships/Awards
Annually, NEHS offers $49,000 in a variety of scholarships valued at up to $5,000 each for active NEHS members planning on enrolling full time in two-year and four-year colleges.
$1,500 Scholarship
Brain & Behavioral Sciences major at Purdue Univeristy
Nimisha Prasad
Oswego East High School, IL
$4,000 Scholarship
English major at The University of Maryland
Madeline Arbutus
Catholic High School of Baltimore, MD
$2,000 Scholarship
Computer Science major at
Brown University
George Rusu
West Covina High School, CA
$3,000 Scholarship
English major at
Salisbury University
Kyla Taylor
Stephen Decatur High School, MD