This comes to us from Cindy Cromwell, a principal in the Kelso School District. If you registered for our Virtual Summer Conference, be sure to watch her course, A Commitment to Supporting the "Whole" Staff on our learning management system.
Welcome to February, the Shortest Month of the Year
I love February!! There are so many great things about this month that makes it special. February is the month of love, a new term, my daughter's birthday and It is finally starting to stay light a bit longer on my drive home. (YAHOO to all of them). February is a time for magical learning in the classroom when our students begin to hit their stride and "get it". All of our hard work is paying off and we are seeing the fruits of our labor. Each and every day educators are making a difference in the lives of students and staff. Your never ending belief in those you serve is a true game changer. You are an inspiration and your community is better off because you are taking care of the future. I hope you find this newsletter full of easy to use ideas to bring joy, laughter and support to your team. February celebrations seem to all revolve around food so you may want to purchase some Pepto-Bismol and monitor your daily steps. As always feel free to reach out to me if I can support your work. We are in this together no matter the distance between our zip codes. ~Cindy
February Days of Celebration
Fun days and ways to celebrate with your students, staff, and families
Feb 1 – National Dark Chocolate Day. With the grocery store aisles lined with candy this should be an easy one. Look for individual chocolates to share with your staff today.
Feb 1 – National Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day. I am looking forward to this one!! Serve an affogato to your staff during morning announcements. An affogato is a scoop of vanilla ice cream "drowned" with a shot of espresso, coffee, or hot chocolate.
Feb 2 – National Ukulele Day. The Ukulele is simply a beautiful instrument. Play "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole to set the stage for an awesome day as students enter, during announcements, or put it on repeat as you will never get tired of this song.
Feb 3 – National Carrot Cake Day. Instead of cake slices for everyone look for carrot cake cupcakes. With February being such a sweet tooth of a month the added veggies will help with a more balanced diet for everyone.
Feb 5 – National Bubble Gum Day. Bubble blowing competition for staff. Another idea might be to have staff share their favorite flavor of gum and brainstorm with their students a recommended new flavor they wish existed. Prizes for the most creative and tasty of ideas.
Feb 5 – National Nutella Day. Nutella snack packs come with a variety of treats. From pretzels to bread sticks purchase these for you staff. PS Costco can hook you up at a reasonable price.
Feb 7 – National Send a Card to a Friend Day (and my daughter Kenzington's Birthday). Hand written notes seem to be become a lost art. Take a couple minutes today to encourage all staff to send a note of encouragement and appreciation to someone they care about. Provide staff with a notecard and a stamp for the finishing touch.
Feb 8 – National Kite Flying Day. Where I live in the pacific northwest usually does not have kite flying weather in February. However, I will be heading to the dollar tree to pick up a kite for each staff member. Add a note that says "Our students soar like kites because you help them fly. Happy Kite Flying Day."
Feb 9 – National Pizza Day. Raffle ticket drawings throughout today for a gift certificate for a pizza dinner.
Feb 10 – National Umbrella Day. Here are a couple ideas for this day: provide staff with root beer floats with little umbrellas in the drink or have umbrellas as door prizes for all of your recess duty and outside supervision staff. Have you seen the movie "Singing in the Rain"? Make it a day of trivia to celebrate this iconic movie.
Feb 11 – National Make a Friend Day. This is a great day to shake up lunch time seating for students and staff. Encourage everyone to get out of their traditional comfort zone and meet someone new.
Feb 14 – Valentine's Day. This is a Sunday so plan ahead if you are giving out staff Valentine's Cards.
Feb 16 – Mardi Gras. Everyone gets beads today on their desks when they arrive. Turn your school into a parade in the hallways and as students come and go everyone does a parade wave. Remember the proper parade wave is elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist.
Feb 16 – National Almond Day. Take advantage of the after Valentine's sales and pick up some almond candies to share.
Feb 17 – Random Act of Kindness Day. This is one of my most favorite days as I wish this was celebrated every day. Challenge your students and staff to do a random act of kindness this week. Give all participants a post it to write on about their act and cover a wall with these examples of kindness or create a kindness chain with their stories.
Feb 19 – National Chocolate Mint Day. One of the highlights growing up in the beautiful Yakima Valley was the smell of fresh mint farms during harvest. Just thinking of the smell of mint brings a smile to my heart. Add some chocolate to it and oh goodness we have a winner in my book. Chocolate mint candies with a note that says "thank you for being an encourage 'mint" to our students." This would be a great school volunteer recognition day also.
Feb 20 – National Love Your Pet Day. Staff share a picture of their pet and students can guess which pet belongs to which staff member.
Feb 22 – National Walking the Dog Day. You could do the obvious here or get a bit creative and give out some yo-yo's. Share a YouTube video on how to "walk the dog" and then have a staff competition.
Feb 24 – National Tortilla Chip Day. It may not be Taco Tuesday but this is a fabulous day to take around your treat cart with a variety of chips for staff to choose from for an afternoon snack.
Feb 25 – National Chili Day & National Clam Chowder Day. If you know me at all you know I LOVE Seinfeld. My cats are even named George and Newman as a tribute to this great show. Fans of the show will understand this one--- purchase several cans of Chowder and Chilli. Have a drawing where staff pull out a paper from a basket. Winning papers will say "soup for you" and they win a can of their choice OR draw a paper that says "NO SOUP FOR YOU" which is a losing ticket.
Feb 26 – National Pistachio Day. My Aunt Betty's favorite day. Pistachio snack bags for everyone or bowls of this great treat available during breaks.