Suggested Activities for National Middle Level Education Month

National Middle Level Education Month
March 2010

The following is a list of suggested activities for National Middle Level Education Month.  Some activities are generic suggestions that have been used by hundreds of schools. Others are unique ideas that creative principals and teachers have generously shared with our office.  All of these ideas have proven successful.  Review them and identify those that are most appropriate to implement in your school community.

We encourage you to celebrate your middle level program not only during National Middle Level Education Month, but throughout the year.  Many of the ideas offered below are just as appropriate at other times of the year such as the beginning of the school year or during American Education Week.

• Ask your mayor to declare March 2010 as National Middle Level Education Month in your community.
• Hold an open house for parents and community members.
• Contact local service clubs and offer yourself or another staff member as a speaker.
• Invite local service clubs to hold a breakfast or luncheon meeting at the school. Talk with them about middle level education and invite them to visit classrooms.
• Submit an article or guest column in your local newspaper.
• Encourage parents and other community members to visit classrooms.
• Display student work in local malls, city buildings, libraries, the central office, etc.
• Schedule celebrations of student work during this week; i.e., science fair, spring concert, drama production, etc.
• Make a presentation at a meeting of your local school board.
• Invite members of local youth service agencies to a meeting at the school to discuss ways in which you might work collaboratively.
• Invite neighborhood police to stop by the school for coffee and an informal discussion about how you might support each other.
• Invite representatives from youth service agencies to address students and parents about the services available in your community.
• Invite representatives from youth service agencies to write a column for your parent newsletter.
• Ask your superintendent to plan a joint meeting between the local school board and the city council to discuss the needs of young adolescents.
• Honor individuals and organizations especially supportive of youth services in your community with a plaque or other award. Be sure to publicize these awards in the local press.
• Plan a one-day or half-day community workshop on youth services. Invite representatives from local family service agencies, health care professionals, law enforcement, probation, YMCA/YWCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, and other community organizations from both the nonprofit and private sectors.
• Contact the public service directors of local radio stations and ask them to air a public service announcement (PSA) announcing the National Middle Level Education Month.
• Encourage students to write letters to the editor of the local newspaper about what it is like to be a middle school student.
• Invite members of the board of education, central office staff members, and/or other community leaders to shadow an individual student for a day.
• Invite parents and grandparents to spend a day at the school shadowing their student.
• Invite a local college or university to join your school in celebrating National Middle Level Education Month.
• Host a "volunteer recognition breakfast" during which parents or community volunteers are honored for their time and efforts.
• Establish an annual "Community Clean-Up Day." Students and parents volunteer to clean up some of the community's parks and recreation areas.
• Offer parents an evening workshop that increases their understanding of the changes their young adolescent is experiencing and presents activities they could do with their children at home to enrich their success at school.
• Hold a "Family Night" potluck dinner at your school to bring families into the school. Exhibit student projects and offer entertainment by students.
• Hold a "Staff Appreciation Day" during which students host a breakfast or luncheon for the staff members. Students design greeting cards expressing their appreciation for the contributions teachers and others make in their behalf.
• Videotape National Middle Level Education Month activities to be aired on local cable television.
• Invite local business and community leaders to spend a day with the principal. (They will be surprised at the variety of things a principal does in a day.)
• Send a National Middle Level Education Month calendar to the mayor, city council, newspapers, and others in your area who may be interested in what is going on in your school.
• Ask every teacher to call three parents per day to discuss the "good things" their student has done in school.