Tips for Community Groups, Service Clubs, and Businesses

Let your board members know how much their work for students is appreciated during School Board Recognition Month (SBRM) in January. This printed kit is just the starting point.

We hope these ideas will spark creative and meaningful board appreciation campaigns in your district!

• Ask your local newspaper to write an editorial recognizing the many volunteer hours school board members give to your community. (sample editorial) 
• Encourage businesses to sponsor radio and TV public service announcements (PSAs) acknowledging the work of the school board and reviewing its responsibilities. (sample PSA)
• Place an advertisement in the local paper.
  
• Send each board member a certificate for a free cup of specialty coffee from a local, popular coffee shop. Accompany it with a note that says, “You deserve a break!” 
• Arrange for a florist to donate a single rose for each board member and put it at his or her place at a board meeting as a thank you for their service.
• Make service clubs in the area aware that January is School Board Recognition Month, and encourage them to show public appreciation for their members who serve on school boards. (sample letter to community groups and service clubs)
• Feature one or two board members each week of January in the local newspaper. Include a photo of the board member in a school setting, a short biography, and his or her philosophy about school board work and the importance of education. Suggest that the education reporter write a feature story about the person who has served the longest on the school board or a school board member who attended your local schools.
• Display an appreciation banner across a major street or highway where it will be seen by lots of residents of the school district.
• Set up a recognition corner or area in the public library to exhibit memorabilia from past school boards.

Inspired by: Ohio School Boards Association and Texas Association of School Boards