Old Colony Archives
Honor Society's adviser recognized
Christine Watling named state advisor of year
By Victoria DeMoranville, Standard-Times correspondent
April 7, 2003
ROCHESTER -- Christine Watling has been a media coordinator at Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School in Rochester for 23 years. For the past six years, she has been the school's Honor Society adviser. This year, she was named the state's National Honor Society Adviser of the Year.
Ms. Watling was on the Honor Society's faculty council for five years before taking the adviser position. The council, which consists of five faculty members, nominates students and helps with day-to-day activities.
As the school's National Honor Society adviser, Ms. Watling is responsible for helping the students manage their time. "One of their biggest challenges is to find time for their academics, their work, and also their sports, and to keep in mind that part of the Honor Society is community service projects," she said.
The state's Honor Society Adviser of the Year must be nominated. Ms. Watling was nominated by her predecessor, the superintendent of the school. Ms. Watling said she believes she was chosen in part because of how active her group of Honor Society students have become in the past several years. She said the group tries to come up with different service projects each year, and that in the six years she been the adviser, the Honor Society has become active in the community.
"Thankfully, I have the full support of the administration and the teachers that help us do some of these projects," Ms. Watling said.
Ms. Watling said she also gets a lot of help from the shops at the school. The Culinary Department helped with the Christmas meal bags the Honor Society delivered to the elderly and hospice patients, and the Printing Department made the pads the group gives out.
The Honor Society has won three national awards for several community service projects, Ms. Watling said.
The significance of that accomplishment becomes more apparent when you consider that the national committee only gives 10 such awards each year for the entire nation.
This year, the group of 16 students again won the state's Commended Chapter Award, which, according to Ms. Watling, is their fourth in the past six years.
Ms. Watling is proud of the students in the Old Colony Honor Society; she noted that 16 "is considered a small group, especially to accomplish all that they have."