HOME FOR HIGH SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS > How to Promote the Honors Program
How to Promote the Honors Program
The IUHPFL office recognizes that high school teachers in the state of Indiana are a key factor in the success of recruiting prospective IUHPFL participants, and also a key player in the students' successful submission of application and acceptance materials. Consequently, the IUHPFL has created this tab designed for high school teachers whose students are prospective IUHPFL participants.
If your students are interested in participating in the Honors Program, it is important to first understand the Application Process and whether or not your high school and your students meet the Qualifications for Program Participation. The IUHPFL encourages high school teachers to be familiar with the IUHPFL Honor Code before deciding to promote the Program in their schools, as well as the basic overview of the Honors Program and the Program Fees. It is also important for high school teachers to have a general understanding of the deadlines and important dates for selected participants that prospective IUHPFL students will come up against in the spring.
Once deciding that the Honors Program is a program that they wish to promote, the IUHPFL office has several helpful hints for high school teachers in promoting the Program to both students and parents.
Please familiarize yourself with the information below about promoting the Honors Program:
Promoting the Honors Program to Prospective IUHPFL Participants
When agreeing to promote the Honors Program to prospective IUHPFL participants, it is important to promote all program sites equally (i.e., promote St. Brieuc as equally as Brest or Saumur, for France, etc.), especially the Honors Program's Spanish-speaking sites. Prepare students for the possibility of being placed in either Spain or Mexico, both of which will undoubtedly provide them with a remarkable experience.
The most powerful recruiting tool in promoting the IUHPFL is its alumni. High school teachers that currently have alumni promote the Honors Program in the following ways:
Alumni who have participated in the most recent summer Program present to current language classes of all levels at the high school (beginning, intermediate, advanced), language clubs, and/or even present to the entire school if possible.
These presentations should ideally happen before Labor Day, as testing for the Honors Program is in October. These presentations should include visual aids (pictures, memorabilia, IUHPFL course materials) and should cover the students' perceptions of the following aspects of the Honors Program: classes, Honor Code, host family experience, excursions, benefits of the Program, application process, how to raise money to cover the Program Fees, etc. Alumni should be asked to talk about how the Program increased their proficiency in the language.
Students in the classrooms being presented to should be encouraged to ask questions about the IUHPFL (i.e., offer participation points to those who ask questions, or have students brainstorm questions about what they would want to know about the Honors Program before the presentation takes place).
If these presentations are in electronic format, they could appear as links on the high school's world language department Web site.
Alumni who have participated in the most recent summer Program present to middle school classrooms, generating interest in the Honors Program in younger student populations. These presentations should include mainly visual aids and memorabilia appropriate for the age level of the students, and could even perhaps be accompanied by a short lesson in the foreign language given by the alumni (i.e., lesson in numbers, colors, animals, etc.).
Alumni who have participated in the most recent summer Program present to community organizations (i.e., Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club, etc.) with the intent to not only promote the Program, but also to encourage community organizations to consider sponsoring future selected IUHPFL participants in their fundraising efforts.
Alumni who have participated in the most recent summer Program write a piece for the school newspaper about their experience, or write a letter to prospective students about their experience.
Alumni who have participated in the Honors Program prepare a cooking (or similar cultural) presentation for your foreign language classroom.
Consider starting an IUHPFL Alumni Club at your high school, or perhaps a regional chapter of an IUHPFL Alumni Club.
Make the blogs of past IUHPFL participants available to prospective students, or perhaps even as links on your high schools Web site.
Recognize IUHPFL participants at your school's end of the year assembly, presenting them with a special certificate for having participated in the Honors Program. This may encourage some students to think about the 'honor' involved in having participated in the Program.
Ideas for promoting the IUHPFL that do not necessarily involve alumni include:
Posting IUHPFL materials (photos, memorabilia, IUHPFL bookmarks and posters, etc.) on a designated Honors Program bulletin board at your school or on another bulletin board that offers summer/extracurricular opportunities.
Submitting an article to the school newspaper about the IUHPFL.
Writing personal notes to students who teachers think would be ideal candidates for the IUHPFL as early as their freshmen year, encouraging them to apply.
Referring students to the IUHPFL Web site, particularly the newsletters and official Program blogs under the ‘Alumni’ tab, and the 'About IUHPFL' tab.
Scheduling an after school meeting for interested IUHPFL participants, to which alumni from the region, former participants who are now high school teachers, or a representative of the IUHPFL office could be invited to attend and/or present.
If you are a current high school teacher in the state of Indiana that promotes the Honors Program and would like to share your ideas on how to promote the IUHPFL to students, please e-mail iuhpfl@indiana.edu.
Promoting the Honors Program to Parents of Prospective IUHPFL Participants
For parents it can be quite daunting to think about sending their students abroad for six and a half weeks, and it is also daunting to think about the cost of doing so. The IUHPFL suggests that the following points should be emphasized when promoting the Honors Program to parents of potential IUHPFL participants:
The history and tradition of the Honors Program. Emphasize that the IUHPFL was established in 1962, and that it has a well-established history on IUB's campus. The IUHPFL is proud to have had more than 6,000 participants in its nearly fifty year history.
The IUHPFL's relationship with Indiana University. Emphasize that the IUHPFL is a unit of the Office of Vice President for International Affairs, and thus is well advised and supervised by the OVPIA in its policies and procedures. Additionally, emphasize that the IUHPFL has its own Advisory Committee, comprised of IUB faculty and staff, as well as high school teachers, that meets once a year to keep the Honors Program abreast of current practices in the field of Study Abroad and to assess the effectiveness of current IUHPFL procedures.
The safety of our current Program sites. Given that the IUHPFL is a unit of OVPIA, the Honors Program is well informed as to any safety issues in the four countries in which the Honors Program is present. Some parents, in particular, worry for students’ safety on our site in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Click here to see a powerpoint presentation with whose content you should be familiar to be able to speak to the safe environment that San Luis Potosí provides our students.
The value of the Honors Program. Emphasizing how well IUHPFL alumni place into their foreign language classes at the college level will help parents to see that the Honors Program is a long term investment that will certainly pay off. Along with the tuition dollars saved, there are, of course, the intangibles that come from an experience abroad: gaining confidence, self-esteem, and independence, as well as a greater perspective and world view, and a greater sense of self. Click here to see a powerpoint presentation that the IUHPFL encourages you to use when promoting the Honors Program to parents (as well as to students). Also, be able to talk to parents about former IUHPFL participants and the amount of scholarship dollars they received when enrolling at IUB.
Keeping in mind the importance of emphasizing the four key points above to prospective IUHPFL parents, the following ideas have been implemented in high schools across the state to promote the IUHPFL to parents:
Prepare to present (or hand out) basic information about the IUHPFL for prospective parents during Open House and/or Parent/Teacher conferences. Use alumni whenever possible in these scenarios, and be sure to mention to prospective parents that on average, IUHPFL alumni test into 5th semester language classes at IUB (see 'The value of the Honors Program' above).
Organize an after school/evening meeting for prospective IUHPFL parents, to which you invite alumni and their parents to speak about the Honors Program experience. If your school is too small to have its own meeting, consider teaming up with high schools near you in your region of the state to have a regional IUHPFL prospective parents meeting.
FOR HIGH SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS > How to Promote the Honors Program