Welcome to May!
Welcome to the beautiful month of May. I would say that May is a magical time for the students and staff we serve. It is the final push of knowledge and skills for our students to ensure they are ready to move on to the next grade, level of content or post high school graduation. Our staffs are digging deep this month and truly giving their students everything they have left. They (like us) are exhausted but we are all determined to dig a bit deeper to finish strong. The month of May is full of celebration opportunities for you utilize to celebrate with you staff. Some are ridiculously simple and others will require a bit of prep work. I have no doubt that this month's School Celebration Newsletter has something for everyone. Let me know if I can support you or ever be a listening voice. You can Find her on Twitter @sholtys. or drop me an email at anytime. I believe in you!!
A Few of My Favorites
May Days to Celebrate
May 1 | May Day | How about placing a single flower on each staff member’s desk for their Monday morning arrival.
May 3 | National Two Different Colored Shoes Day | This is super simple to pull off. Encourage your staff to wear two different shoes (maybe in your school colors).
May 3 | School Lunch Hero Day | Celebrate your food service workers today. This year reach out to not only the heroes in your own school that help feed your students but also remember those that work 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 6 | National Beverage Day | Load the refrigerator or your treat cart with beverages for staff.
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 13 | National Apple Pie Day | Go to the grocery store and purchase individual apple pies for your staff in honor of this day. "You are the 'APPLE' of our eye. Thank you for all you do."
May 14 | National Dance Like a Chicken Day | Have a chicken dance party at lunch, recess, and in bus lines.
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 social media sites. This is great PR for your school and is something we should always be modeling as leaders.
May 16 | National Barbecue Day | Purchase bottles of BBQ Sauce and adding a tag that reads “Thank you for being the secret sauce for our students success.”
May 17th |
National Pick Strawberries Day | Have a variety of strawberry and strawberry flavored items that staff can choose from.
National Pizza Party Day | Ask your PTO to purchase pizza for lunch for staff today.
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.
National Pack Rat Day | This is a day to encourage students and staff to clean up desks, back packs, school bags, lockers, and that scary staff refrigerator
May 20 | National Be a Millionaire Day | Purchase 100 Grand Candy Bars for today to celebrate.
May 23 | National Lucky Penny Day | Grab a few index cards and tape a penny on each one. Write a note on each one 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 27 | National Grape Popsicle Day | Its been a "grape" of a year. Hand out popsicles this Thursday afternoon.
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 31 | National Macaroon Day AND 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.
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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.