By IEA Communication
It’s almost time to celebrate the individuals who strive to make a difference in our schools.
American Education Week runs Nov. 15-21, so there is plenty of time to start planning events or simple ways to say “thank you” to those who work every day to make public schools great.
The week was developed in 1919 when representatives of the National Education Association and the American Legion became distressed that 25 percent of the country’s World War I draftees were illiterate and 9 percent were physically unfit. The first American Education Week was held in 1921.
It is always celebrated the week before Thanksgiving. This year’s days are designated as follows:
- Nov. 16 is Open House Day – Put posters up in the school’s common areas or conduct an American Education Week billboard contest. Teach your students about the week and all of its individual days of celebration, or contact your local mayor’s or governor’s office to have a proclamation made commemorating the event.
- Nov. 17 is Parents Day – Create a planning committee to schedule special events for the day, which may include allowing parents to join their children for the day, or hosting a reception for parents.
- Nov. 18 is Education Support Professionals Day – Provide a breakfast or lunch for ESPs to show how much they’re appreciated, or arrange for local public officials to spend the day with an ESP to gain appreciation for the jobs they do, or send a simple thank you card with a raffle ticket inside and hold a raffle for a great prize. Another idea would be to have people write personal thank you letters to ESPs.
- Nov. 19 is Educator for a Day – Some pre-planning is involved, but you can form a committee to decide how many guest educators should be invited , what they will do throughout the day, who will accompany them, set up an evaluation process and plan a reception or thank-you letter campaign for those who participate.
- Nov. 20 is Substitute Educators Day – Acknowledge substitutes in a read-aloud message at school, or present them with a certificate of appreciation. Showcase pictures of them on a bulletin board. Have staff or students bring a bag of snacks into the classroom. Or, bring them a note, a flower or a poem of appreciation.
Toolkits and other information and ideas are available on the National Education Association website, as are easily downloadable materials.
Have fun and happy planning!
