January is School Board Recognition Month

As citizens who serve children and represent their communities, school board members face complex and demanding challenges. The month of January is designated as School Board Recognition Month in honor of the critical role our schools board members play in serving our students, our communities and our state. All Coloradans should recognize the vital contributions these elected public officials play in the education of our children. They are extraordinary people who voluntarily tackle the enormous job of governing school districts.

School board members come from all walks of life. They are farmers, secretaries, doctors, lawyers, homemakers, teachers, architects, truck drivers, professors, business owners and real estate agents, to name a few. While they wear many hats in the workday world, school board members put on a collective hat when they get down to the business of leading their school districts. Board members must pull together as a team toward a common goal – helping students achieve. While they may individually disagree on certain issues, their role as a board is to consistently strive toward that goal.

The time spent in board meetings represents just a small fraction of the hours school board members devote to leading their districts. They also work hard at seminars and training sessions to keep abreast of the latest trends in educational leadership, are deeply involved in community activities, and spend many hours in the schools and at extracurricular events.

We hope you’ll take this opportunity to help acknowledge the men and women who make the time to share their leadership and voice about the future of Colorado children.

The 2019 School Board Recognition Month Toolkit provides many resources to help celebrate School Board Recognition Month — your note of thanks will go a long way to acknowledge all school board members do to serve.

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like
wrapping a present and not giving it.”
~ William Arthur Ward

Resources to help celebrate School Board Recognition Month

• Tips for school administrators
• Tips for staff, students and parents
• Tips for community groups, service clubs and businesses

• Sample proclamation: Ask your mayor, city council, or county official to proclaim January as School Board Recognition Month in your community.
• Sample news release: Customize on district letterhead and send to local media.
• Sample editorial: In addition to its use as a guest editorial, this article also can form the basis of a column in your community newsletter, a speech or letter to the editor.
• Sample newsletter article: Customize and place in school, district and community newsletters.
• Sample letter to community groups and service clubs: Inform your local community groups and service clubs that it is a perfect time to recognize school board members.
• Sample public service announcements: These radio public service announcements (PSAs) can be faxed or emailed to radio and TV stations. If you have a student-run television studio, create a video with images of the board in action and record the voice over the images.
• Sample messages for social media and school marquees: Use these messages to show your appreciation.

Sample Artwork

• Certificate: These can be run through your color printer or photocopied to be presented by the district.
• Color and black-and-white advertisements: Choose an image to use for an advertisement in the local paper or a newsletter
• Color and black-and-white logos: Include these logos in printed and/or photocopied materials
• Online badges: Use these badges on your website.
• Poster: Hang this poster on bulletin boards and break rooms.
• Social media images: Use #SchoolBoardMonth on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to share how your district is celebrating.

Please send any photos and information from your celebrations to comm@casb.org. We will post photos from celebrations on our Facebook page and Twitter.