It is Officially Spring
I love APRIL. Springtime brings crazy schedules for the Cromwell family. However, I am determined to enjoy these precious moments with my family along with the later sunsets, the blooming flowers, the birds chirping in the morning, and evenings on the back deck. All of these beautiful signs of spring make me smile. This month of April you need not to feel guilty about shutting down your phone for an evening or weekend. Go for a walk, turn the music up a bit louder on your drive to and from work, get a massage, AND treat yourself to some me time. April is when we are starting to see the finish line for this school year, so fill YOUR bucket. I know you will find this edition of the School Celebration Newsletter helpful to bring laughter, joy, and appreciation to your work. As always, feel free to reach out to me @sholtys on Twitter/X if I can do anything to support your work or be a sounding board of ideas. I believe in you!
A Few of My Favorites
April Days to Celebrate
April 2 | (caution on this one) National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day | Purchase Smucker UnCrustables (they are individually wrapped) and add a sticker that says “We All Go Together Like Peanut Butter and Jelly.” Or, for a non-peanut food treat, have student choral responses be Jelly. The principal says peanut butter, and students respond back with Jelly as an attention-getter.
April 3 | National Tweed Day | Can you have a fun tweed dress up day today?
April 4 | National Vitamin C Day | Pick up a box of “Emergen-C” at Costco and share with staff to encourage them to build up their immune system to get through this spring.
April 5 | National Deep Dish Pizza Day | Check with your local pizza restaurants and see if they would be willing to donate a few pizzas to honor your staff. Either treat staff to a pizza lunch or utilize them as prizes for a drawing for dinner.
April 10 | National Siblings Day | Have staff share pictures of themselves with their siblings and post them on a bulletin board or on your school’s media screens. What a great way for your students to get to know the faculty.
April 11 | National Pet Day | Have staff share pictures of their pets. Then have a class competition to see which classroom can match the most staff with their pets.
April 12 | National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day | Ask your PTO or school booster group to make grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch today. April 12 is also National Licorice Day. Have staff vote on preferences for Red Vines vs. Twizzlers?? Or provide licorice in your staff room for a quick snack. Include a note to say, “I am extending a vine to help you pull through the week.”
April 15 | National Laundry Day | Purchase Shout wipes with a sticker or note that says I want to shout out to the world how thankful I am for you. (Shout wipes are a must-have in the Cromwell Household.)
April 17 | National Banana Day | OK, so let me share with you that my grandmother believed in the power of bananas. Those, along with peppermint and honey, could cure just about everything. Bananas have potassium along with a ton of other good-for-you nutrients, and well, they do amazing things for the human body. On this day, I will be providing bananas for every staff member and a note that says, “Have a banana. It cures just about everything." –Grandma Alice.
April 18 | National Animal Cracker Day | Do you remember the red circus boxes of animal crackers? Add a stick on each one that says, “I am thankful you are a part of our circus.”
April 19 | National Garlic Day | Give everyone a bulb of garlic and a pack of tic tacs with a note “I will always have you covered.” Or create a poster in the staff room where staff could share favorite things to use garlic in and for.
April 22 | Earth Day | You got this one. But it is also National Jelly Bean Day, and I love Jelly Bellies. Have a game of Beanboozled available for staff or a beautiful colorful jar of jelly beans available today. Note: there are also small packs of Jelly Bellies available.
April 24 | National Bucket List Day | Create a bucket list board in your staff room. Ask staff to write on a post-it something that is on their bucket list and place it on the board.
April 24 | National Administrative Professionals Day | The most important day of the month to remember.
April 26 | National Pretzel Day | Pretzels in the staff room or handed out in your treat cart with a note “Everywhere I turn I see great things happening in your classroom/school.”
April 30 | National Raisin Day | Create a buffet of different types of raisin products (plain, chocolate covered, yogurt covered, oatmeal raisin cookies, etc). Add signs that say, “We are ‘raisin’ up great leaders at (your school).”
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Cindy Sholtys-Cromwell |
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Principal, Loowit High School and Kelso Virtual Academy (K-12)
Kelso School District
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Cindy is in her 24th 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.
Find her on Twitter @sholtys.