NSBE Jr. in Houston

“Houston, We Have a Problem”

All is not well in Houston. In 2007, forty-two Houston metro area high schools were named “Dropout Factories,” due to their dropout rates in excess of 40%. As of December 1, 2008, NSBE Jr. membership in the Houston metro area is down to 55, from 188 in March of 2007. There are literally more school districts in the Houston area than there are NSBE Jr. students.

The Houston Space Chapter has proposed a solution at its 2008 leadership retreat. Download and read the presentation (32 MB). We believe that NSBE’s traditional model of one-on-one Alumni/Collegiate chapter to NSBE Jr. chapter relationship is overwhelmed by Houston’s 62 Independent School Districts and hundreds of private schools. We believe we can strengthen the NSBE Jr. network in Houston by incorporating leadership elements from the Greensboro Youth Council, a youth leadership organization created by the City of Greensboro in 1962.

The first organization of its kind in America, the Greensboro Youth Council (GYC) has been used as a template for other youth organizations across the country. With the coordination assistance of only four adults (college students and professionals), GYC high school students annually give back to the city over 13,000 hours of volunteer community service and generate over $100,000 in program revenue. Projects such as the GYC Carnival, High IQ Bowl, Ghoulash!, Camille’s Magic Closet, and others build a sense of camaraderie among GYC members while teaching them leadership skills in a fun setting that place GYC Alumni light-years ahead of other high school graduates.

Adapting the leadership techniques of GYC will help better prepare Houston NSBE Jr. members for academic success, strengthen Houston NSBE Jr. chapters, and overcome the many challenges currently faced by NSBE Jr. in Houston.

The Houston Space Chapter calls upon the Houston Alumni Extension, Rice University NSBE, Texas Southern University NSBE, and University of Houston NSBE chapters to join forces with us to help create the Houston Jr. Executive Board, a leadership structure modeled after the Greensboro Youth Council that will link together all of the NSBE Jr. chapters in Houston. A proposed board structure exists here.

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