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Adding Value to the Digital School

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What are the things that tend to add value to a digital school?  We often ask ourselves this question when different propositions present themselves at our school.  One of those things is National Honor Society (NHS).  While NHS is a prestigious organization for young people to develop, hone, and experience leadership and scholarship, it is difficult to ascertain how NHS might add value to learners in a digital school.

Being NHS president at Orion has allowed me to better understand organizational skills as well as parliamentary procedure.

Orion Warrior Chapter
Our school has had an NHS Chapter for quite some time.  Our learners have clocked many service hours in their respective communities across the United States and around the world.  Through our own diligence, though, we have required a bit more out of our learners, just because of the digital space within which we operate.  For example, our NHS members are required to be independent but accountable.  We require them to produce results for the service hours they conduct; we require their presence at meetings, and in our own social community.


For digital learners, though, it is hard to be a part of the overall NHS experience, which includes convening on both the state and national levels, and to experience that leadership in that venue.  So in that sense, NHS doesn't add a lot of value to our school and to our learners.  There are arguably lot of opportunities for our learners to engage with their peers in webinars and the like; for our learners, however, webinars are not exactly a new and ideal situation.  So, the opportunities that may be there, are not necessarily a good fit for the digital school.

We expect to continue exploring the value-add of NHS and other like organizations.  We understand the value of the organization as the learner develops his or her resume and on to college.  We will ascertain how this and other organizations purport to add value to digital schools like ours, and we will make better decisions when we lead with that question:  How do you add value to what we do?

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About the author

Joseph Gallegos

Joseph Gallegos

Dr. Gallegos started his career in education in 1991, in the west Texas town of Odessa (Friday Night Lights).  Dr. Gallegos taught English, mathematics, and worked with recent immigrants who were first year in the school system.  He worked to increase student engagement and his work resulted in substantial increases in the first-time passing rates for immigrants!

Dr. Gallegos would go on to serve as a principal in the same district; in the Austin (TX) Independent School District, and then would move on to serve as Assistant Superintendent in Portales, NM.  Dr. Gallegos served as district superintendent in Sierra Blanca, TX, where together with his colleagues increased student achievement with sharp focus on academics and on one-on-one learning.

Dr. Gallegos served as Chief Academic Officer in a suburban district in west Texas, and then served as a Senior Program Director at the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

For over 10 years, Dr. Gallegos has been the owner (founder) of Orion Online Learning, Inc., and through that lens has been able to impact digital learning in a one-on-one environment.

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Thursday, 17 July 2025