CIAC
(Athletics Division)

CANHS Executive Board

In May, 2008 during our statewide Honor Society Conference new officers were elected for the 2008-09 school year. New Officers include: president Salma Akhtar from Westbrook High School; vice president is Jonathan Chi from Wethersfield High School; Secretary is Christen Orticari from Southington High School; State News Editor is Victoria Woszczyna from Southington High School and middle school representative Leanne Aakjar from Northeast Middle School in Bristol, CT.

Adult advisory board members include: Robert Krom, retired middle school honor society advisor JFK Middle School in Southington; Lee Pelletier, NHS advisor W. F. Kaynor Technical HS, Waterbury; Mary Beth Jordan, Wethersfield High School; Diane Hodgkins, retired middle school advisor, Northeast Middle School; and Jenny Berthiallme, advisor, Northeast Middle School.

General Information

The purpose of the Connecticut Association of National Honor Societies (CANHS) is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to stimulate a desire to render service, to promote leadership, and to develop character in its members of the honor societies of Connecticut.

CANHS is affiliated with the Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS) and was established in accordance with its goals to provide more opportunities for student leadership. CANHS is also an outgrowth of the NHS association which believes that a state organization can better meet the needs of the local chapters in the areas of leadership training, state service projects, scholarship recognition and character development.

The CANHS Advisory Board meets approximately five times each year. The Board undertakes a major statewide initiative that encourages all member chapters to support.

For the upcoming school year the executive board intends to publicize a volunteer directory listing student volunteers from CT cities and towns that are willing to volunteer to work at American Red Cross Blood Drives during school vacation periods and also summer months. The Board will also be meeting with Connecticut State Officials to connect honor society chapters with local senior citizen centers to develop programs of support and encouragement. More details on these specific initiatives will be sent to honor society advisors this fall.

Each year a delegation from Connecticut attends the Honor Society National Conference. This fall the conference will be held in Orlando, Florida November 7-9. Any school honor society chapter interested in joining the state delegation is encouraged to contact Don Gates, Honor Society Executive Director at donw.gates@att.net.

An advisor workshop is also planed for the fall (date to be determined) at the CAS headquarters in Cheshire, CT. This is a wonderful opportunity for advisors to learn about enhancing honor society student leadership skills, to be brought up to date on legalities associated with "FOI", student rights, and related issues.

Join CANHS

Become a member of CANHS now! Our state association serves as a resource to support strengthening local chapters in addition to providing leadership training for honor society students. We now enjoy the opportunity to network and to share wonderful outreach efforts to serve middle school and high school advisers along with school principals throughout Connecticut.

Dues Structure
  • Initial General Membership -- $100.00
  • Membership Renewal (paid annually after initial membership fee) -- $50.00
Membership entitles members to all association mailing and to participate in annual statewide conferences for a nominal conference registration fee.

To download a registration form in Adobe Acrobat format, click here.