NEHS celebrates and recognizes the outstanding literacy initiatives of its chapters through the Chapter Impact Award. This award honors the dedication and creativity of NEHS student members who are making a profound difference in their communities through literacy-focused service projects.
As champions of community engagement and empathy-building, NEHS encourages chapters to showcase projects that elevate literacy skills, foster understanding, and forge strong community connections. Whether projects are large or small, local or international, they are valued for their impact on the communities they serve.
Explore inspiring examples of diverse community service projects on the NEHS Museletter blog to spark ideas and inspiration for your own chapter’s initiatives.
Awards
Winning chapters will be notified by email and will have their submitted evidence published on the NEHS Museletter blog. Winning chapters will receive a $200 check to support their future community projects and an official certificate.
Eligibility
- Chapters must be active at the time of submission and awarding.
- All student members involved in the community service project must be active NEHS student members.
Submission Requirements
- Chapters must submit a narrative summary of the project in the form of a blog (.doc/.docx), of 400-500 words max, that details the purpose/goals of the project undertaken, the timeline, and the outcomes and impact it had. The blog should also include the number of NEHS student members involved in the activity and 2-3 testimonials from their project’s intended audience revealing the impact and/or success of the project. Chapters are welcome to include any further information they feel is pertinent.
- Students must upload at least five high-quality, high-resolution photos of NEHS students actively participating in the project. Chapters can also submit video material if they so wish.
Submission Process
- All submissions must be made via the NEHS AwardSpring platform during the Spring Awards Cycle.
- One student member must upload the entire submissions (including all the elements below) to AwardSpring.
- The single student member from the chapter must upload the high-resolution photos of NEHS students engaged in the project in JPG or PNG format (.jpg/.jpeg/.png). Photos uploaded in other formats will be disqualified.
- The same student member must upload a Microsoft Word file (.doc/.docx) of the 400-500 word narrative summary of the project.
- Any video material (optional) must be submitted by uploading a video in the AwardSpring platform. Any material that is not immediately accessible to our evaluation team will be disqualified.
- The single student member must complete demographic data questions prior to submitting their documentation.
- The student author(s) of the narrative report must include a 150-word (max.) third-person biography and high-resolution portrait photo.
- The applying chapter must agree that they are willing to provide a written report and photos detailing the impact the award has had on them, which can be used by NEHS to promote this and other opportunities in future years should they win an award.
Evaluation Process
All submissions will be evaluated by at least three members of the NEHS evaluation team.
All submissions will be evaluated against a rubric containing (but not limited to) the following categories:
- Evidence of project planning
- Quality of implementation
- Impact on community
- Level of NEHS student member engagement
- Literacy skills development among intended audience
- Evidence of collaboration and teamwork
- Quality of community feedback
- Innovation and creativity
Chapter Impact Award Resources
- NEHS: Funding for community service projects through the Chapter Project Grant.
- NEHS: Examples of NEHS community service projects.
