May 24, 2018
The St. John’s University Staten Island Campus Chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA) has earned Gold Chapter Honors, after receiving Silver Chapter Honors last year and Bronze Honors in 2016. NSSLHA Chapter Honors are awarded by the National Executive Council to local chapters that demonstrate a commitment to NSSLHA's core values: philanthropy, community service, career awareness, advocacy, and networking.
The St. John’s NSSLHA chapter was recognized at the Gold level for helping the national organization increase awareness of communication sciences and disorders among state and federal legislators, providing scholarships to students in communication sciences and disorders programs by contributing to a donation of more than $10,000 to the ASHFoundation’s NSSLHA Scholarship, raising more than $15,250 for the 2017-2018 NSSLHA Loves campaign, and supporting clients, students, and organizations in local communities across the nation.
The St. John’s chapter will receive a Recognition Ribbon at the NSSLHA Honors Awards Ceremony at the ASHA Convention in Boston, MA from November 15-17, 2018, and will be featured in the NSSLHA email and newsletter. NSSLHA has also provided giveaways for the chapter to use.
The award letter from the NSSLHA commends the chapter for sharing “the gift of leadership, while demonstrating that the future of the professions is filled with strong leaders who are committed to serving and advocating for their clients.”
The St. John’s Staten Island NSSLHA Chapter President is senior Speech Pathology and Audiology major Kayla Vastardis and the faculty advisor is Assistant Professor Gary E. Martin, Ph.D.
“I am so proud again of our Staten Island NSSLHA chapter, and President Kayla Vastardis in particular,” said Dr. Martin. “After being awarded Bronze Honors in 2016 and Silver Honors in 2017 under past presidents, Kayla was determined to ‘go for the gold’ this year and she succeeded.”