• Ask city and/or county government officials to pass a resolution thanking and honoring the school board for its work.
• Plan a special reception at the January board meeting. Invite district and building staff, students, community members, media, city officials, community groups, etc.
• Feature two or three board members each week in January in the local newspaper, school newsletter, or on the website or social media.
• Promote recognition through special announcements at sporting events, school programs. Introduce board members during half-time festivities. Include a message thanking them in the game program or on the score board.
• Focus a website section on board members with their background, years of service, committee assignments, etc. List school board decisions and tie them to end results or accomplishments.
• Create tweets and Facebook posts about the board as a whole, thanking them for their work.
• Display an appreciation banner in the board room or district office.
• Provide a special cake (or other tasty treat) before or after a board meeting.
• Decorate the boardroom before a board meeting. Feature activities and programs that have been supported by the board or have resulted from board planning and strategic decisions.
• Present small tokens of appreciation, such as a coffee card or plant, to each board member.
• Send a media release and ask other organizations to put an announcement in their bulletins, newsletters, websites, etc.
• Gather a series of quote or thoughts on leadership and email them (one a week or more frequently) to all staff, tying it back to the work done by the school board.
• Create personalized thank you notes to present to each board member at a board meeting or at a special event.

• Encourage staff to send notes of appreciation to board members. 
• Invite board members to a special event or to school programs and introduce them, thanking them for their hard work and support. 
• Suggest that each staff member tell two people outside of school about the good things board members are doing.
• Arrange for each department to adopt a board member for special recognition activities or gifts.
• Put “thank you” messages on school marquees, on school websites and in school newsletters.
• Invite school board members to a lunch hosted by students. Some middle and high school programs offer food preparation classes or operate student-run community restaurants.
• Ask staff and PTOs/PTAs and Booster Clubs to write thank you notes
• Plan a school board commendation at a staff development meeting, or a staff meeting or meeting of district administrators.
• Research your school board’s history and write a timeline listing the highlights. Post this on your website and send to the media.
• Ask your members of congress to write a letter of commendation to each board member.
• Sponsor a student poster or essay contest to thank school board members for their volunteer service. Display the results in the community, on your website and send photographs of the winners to the local newspaper.
• Ask staff to say a few words on behalf of their work group (teachers, cooks, bus drivers, school secretaries, etc.) at a board meeting.

• Send a press release on School Board Recognition Month.
• Send a letter to the editor.
• Ask your local radio station to run a public service announcement.
• Encourage your local news media (newspapers, radio and television stations) to interview school board members and run profiles of each board member.
• Ask board members why they serve and use their quotes in news releases and articles or use posts on the school’s Facebook page.
• Provide media representatives with information about what the board does, the major decisions facing your board, important actions the board has taken and the tremendous amount of time each board member devotes to your public schools. 
• Schools with access to a district cable TV channel can use their time to conduct interviews with school board members and have informal talks on board service. Use students as interviewers and technical help.

• Each week during January, ask a different class or school to “adopt” a board member. Students can write poems and notes, draw pictures or create computer presentations to present to school board members.
• Arrange for a student choir to present at a board meeting.
• Arrange for a delegation that includes members from each class (or school building) to attend a board meeting and present each board member with a school shirt or some other special memento.
• Invite school board members to read to students, discuss what it means to be a school board member or sit in on a meeting of your school’s student council or be an honorary judge of your science contest or other event. Take pictures and use these on your school website.
• Ask student editors to do feature stories on the board in school publications.
• Ask a school or class (perhaps the Debate or Forensics team?) to write and present its own proclamation during a board meeting.
• Invite students to create special artwork, then display in the board room and district office.
• Invite board members to breakfast or lunch and ask students to host them for the event. Use student artwork on the placemats.
• Invite board members to “shadow” a student through a typical school day or ride a bus through its route.
• Present board members with a plant grown by horticulture students.

**Personalize by changing quotes to fit your district and community.

(school district name) Board Members Leading for Success

January is School Board Recognition Month, a great opportunity to say thank you to the (insert name of district) Board of Education who are committed to the success of every student in our community.

Our board of education includes (insert names).

These seven community leaders volunteer hundreds of hours attending meetings, reading reports and discussing plans and programs to support educational achievement.

“Our board members develop policies and make complex decisions that shape the future of our education system. They are accountable for an annual budget of $________ million, ________ students, ________ employees and ________ buildings,” said (name of superintendent), (title).

A board member’s responsibility goes far behind the monthly meeting, however.

“They also meet with legislators and other policy makers to advocate for our schools to make sure every child has access to an excellent education. We are grateful to have this opportunity to formally say ‘thank you’ to each of them,” said (last name of superintendent).

_______________ (name of school district) encourages the entire community to thank a school board member, not only this month but throughout the entire year.

# # #

Join us in thanking our Board of Education

January is School Board Recognition Month and our school district would like to thank you each of our board of education members for their incredible service to our community and our public schools.

School board members in (your district’s name) develop policies and make important decisions that help shape the future of our education system. They are entrusted by this community with the responsibility of an annual budget of $________ million, ________ students, ________ employees and ________ buildings.

This January, please join us as we thank our school board members for volunteering their time, for fulfilling this very important civic responsibility, and for advocating on behalf of every child in our community

The men and women serving(your district’s name)and their years of service are: (list names of board members and years of service)

Sincerely,

(Name of Superintendent)

(Name of School District)

###

Post these simple messages on school marquees, bulletin boards, welcome boards around the school. Ask businesses in your community to do the same!  

• Kansas Public School Board Members Make the Future Better for Every Child. Thank you, Board of Education Members from USD ____.
• Thanks to our school board for a job well done.
• Our school board members lead our future!
• Thank a school board member today.
• January is School Board Recognition Month. Thank you, USD ___ Board Members for your dedication and service!
• School Board Recognition Month – Join us as we say “Thanks”!
• Elected to work for our kids! Thank you to our School Board.

Social media graphics 

Looking for social media graphics that are ready to share? Download our School Board Recognition Graphics folder.

Social media messages

Facebook/Instagram

Option 1:
January is School Board Recognition Month! Our school board members at [district name here] make many decisions for our students and staff. [insert a recent decision you’d like to highlight]. Join us in thanking our school board members this month!

Option 2:
Celebrate School Board Recognition Month with us by thanking our school board members! Our school board includes [list the names of your board members]. These seven individuals make crucial decisions for the students and staff at [district name]. Thank you, school board leaders!

Twitter

Option 1:
Our school board members help make crucial decisions for our students and staff. Be sure to thank your school board members this month for School Board Recognition Month! #ThankBOE

Option 2:
Join us in thanking our school board members during School Board Recognition Month! [district name] is grateful for these seven individuals and their leadership through good and hard times. #ThankBOE

Download our template and print certificates to present to board members at your next meeting.

Download Certificate Template

“Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.”

—Anthony J. D’Angelo

“Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.”

—Edward Everett

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

— William Butler Yeats

“There is a place in America to take a stand: it is public education. It is the underpinning of our cultural and political system. It is the great common ground. Public education after all is the engine that moves us as a society toward a common destiny … it is in public education that the American dream begins to take shape.”

—Tom Brokaw

“Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education.”

—John F. Kennedy

“As a product of the public education system, I want all American students to have what I had — access to a quality education that enables them to pursue any career they wish, and take on any challenge the choose. Giving our students the best education in the world is a moral imperative and, especially, and economic necessity.”

—Richard Riley, former U.S. Secretary of Education

“If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.”

—Chinese proverb

“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”

—B.B. King