A. Star Wars — Utilize Yoda quotes throughout the day, pass out light saber candy sticks (found on Amazon or in many candy stores) go around school, and pass these out telling the recipients “Oh, the force is strong with you. You will achieve great things.”
C. National Weather Observers Day — Create a dress-up day for your students and staff where they can dress up for their favorite weather. (eg snow-dress like they are going skiing; rain- umbrella and rain pants; sun-sunglasses. Note: you may have to remind the staff about dress codes on this one)
Side idea: Add some Star Wars theme to your Teacher Appreciation Celebrations this week
May 5 | Cinco de Mayo — I LOVE this day!! I could honestly eat tacos every day of the year. Celebrate this by filling a piñata with treats of snacks and office supplies (post-its, sharpies), AND have a nacho or taco bar. You truly can not go wrong with this day.
May 5 | School Lunch Hero Day is a must-do celebration for your food service workers. This year reach out to not only the heroes in your own school that help feed your students but also remember those working behind the scenes delivering and dealing with the ordering of food and processing the paperwork. Encourage students and staff to celebrate this day with cards, signs, notes, and words of thanksgiving.
May 10 | National Clean Up Your Room Day. As we are getting closer to the end of the year feel free to tweak this one and connect it to student lockers and desks. A little pre-cleaning before the end of the year will ease the clean-up process for everyone.
May 10 | National School Nurses Day — This is another must-do day. Flowers, student and staff thank you notes, lunch provided, decorations, and treats throughout the day. Provide your school nurse with all of their favorite treats and then branch out to the staff with a treat cart and have staff choose a fun snack they would like or have a celebration potluck for this great holiday.
May 11 | National Eat What You Want Day — Have a potluck where everyone brings their favorite comfort food. Or this is a great day to bring out your treat cart and have staff choose a fun snack.
May 12 | National Limerick Day — throughout the day use limericks to make announcements, say thank yous, and as you interact with students.
May 15 | National Chocolate Chip Day — Super easy alert!! On your way to work pick up chocolate chip cookies.
May 16 | Do Something Good for Your Neighbor Day — Encourage students to do a random act of kindness in celebration of this day all week. Have students take a picture and post their good deed to your school's social media sites. This is great PR for your school and is something we should always be modeling as leaders. You could also celebrate National Barbecue Day today by purchasing bottles of BBQ Sauce and adding a tag that reads “Thank you for being the secret sauce for our students' success.”
May 17 | National Pack Rat Day — Another opportunity to encourage students and staff to clean up desks, backpacks, school bags, lockers, and that scary staff refrigerator.
May 19 | One of those days that has a ton of opportunities:
A. National Pizza Party Day — Ask your PTO to purchase pizza for lunch for staff today.
B. NASCAR Day — Decorate a table, staff room, or snack wagon with checkered flags. "We Are Zooming Towards the Finish Line." Have Chex mix available along with beverages and decorate with hot wheels cars.
C. National Devil's Food Cake Day — Nowadays you can purchase these as cupcakes or cookies. This might be a great way to help your staff get their chocolate fix today.
May 23 | National Lucky Penny Day — Grab a few index cards and tape a penny on each one. Write a note on each and hand out to your staff. Ideas include, “You are a lucky penny for your students”, “Every day we work together I consider myself lucky”, “How did I get so lucky to hire you?”
May 24 | National Scavenger Hunt Day and National Escargot Day — So hide a few pictures of Gary the Snail from SpongeBob and the staff that find them win a prize.
May 25 | National Brown Bag It Day — Hide different treasures or party favors in brown bags and have staff choose these grab bags for a special treat or reward.
May 26 | National Paper Airplane Day — Have a paper airplane competition for staff to participate in. For those of you that went with a Top Gun theme for your school year, this is a great way to connect to your school year theme.
May 26 | National Road Trip Day — (This is the Friday before Memorial Day)-Make a road trip goodie bag for all of your staff. Include: bottled water, granola bar, licorice, pack of gum, life savers, and a note to encourage them to charge their batteries over this 3-day weekend.
May 29 | National Paperclip Day — (I know it seems like everything has its own special day right?) Could this be your way to remind staff of a task you need them to work on as we close up the school year? Attach a note to a paper clip that says something like “Happy National Paperclip Day. May this clip be a reminder to submit your supply list to me by the end of the week?” Fill in whatever task or to-do item here.
May 30 | National Hole in My Bucket Day. Have you read the book about being a bucket filler? If your students or staff are familiar with this story you could easily connect today’s special celebration to your work.
May 31 | National Macaroon Day AND another one of my favorites which is National Smile Day. Surprise your staff with a tray full of a variety of macaroons and then add notes of appreciation and kindness on post-its in the staff bathrooms and in the staff room that will make them smile and remind them you care.
Cindy is in her 23rd year as a school administrator. She is currently the principal of Kelso Virtual Academy and Loowit Alternative High School within the Kelso School District in Kelso, Washington. Cindy has been recognized by the National Association of Secondary School Principals as the 2021 National Digital Principal of the Year. She has two teenagers and has been married to her husband, Leszek for 23 years.
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