A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Activity and Event Ideas

An America Goes Back to School event can be as large or as small as you choose to make it. Past events have ranged from a class picnic during which parents and community members were encouraged to volunteer in the school, to a 10,000-person citywide rally. The purpose is to celebrate community partnerships for learning, to build public awareness of and support for your education improvement efforts, and to celebrate all the opportunities a new school year offers. If your community already organizes a back-to-school activity, work through that event to bring in more wide-ranging support for your schools. Below is a list of possible America Goes Back to School events to help you formulate an activity or event that would best suit your community.

• Host a series of breakfast forums to discuss education in your community--invite civic leaders, educators, students, and parents to speak.
• Organize a book drive or book fair to encourage long-term efforts to improve reading.
• Conduct a tour of your school to evaluate needs, such as bringing technology into classrooms, modernizing school buildings, and addressing the issue of over-crowded classrooms.
• Host a Parent Fair and invite schools, law enforcement officials, mental health workers, arts and cultural groups, colleges, librarians, and medical professionals to set up booths. Pass out information on child safety, drug and alcohol prevention, mental health, after-school enrichment opportunities, and the possibility of receiving free or low-cost insurance for children 18 years of age and under, through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Call 1-877-Kids-Now for more information on CHIP.
• Make a school calendar with America Goes Back to School events clearly displayed, so parents and the entire community can learn about ways they can become involved in improving education in schools, at home, and throughout the community.
• Sponsor special activities that recruit bright young people into teaching, and encourage mid-career professionals to become teachers.
• Join local businesses in sponsoring a career/job-shadow day or a yearlong effort to better link employers with schools.
• Arrange a first-day-of-school holiday, as they did in Bennington, Vermont--encourage employers to give parents time off from work so they can go to school with their children that day. Have information on family-school partnerships available at schools to recruit help for yearlong involvement.
• Plan a storytelling night for students and their families, and have children perform their favorite stories or poems.
• Work with a local museum or arts organization to create a millennium mural in your school.
• Encourage students to participate in an art or essay contest and have local artists or writers judge the event.
• Partner with a college in your area to arrange "planning ahead" workshops or college fairs for middle and high school students and their families to start preparing early for higher education.
• Organize a sign-on event to encourage families, community organizations, businesses, and religious groups to participate in the U.S. Department of Education’s Partnership for Family Involvement in Education.
• Hold a ‘Back-to-School Night’ for parents – encourage families to bring at least one other person from the community along so they can learn about opportunities to get involved as volunteers.
• Ask your local school board, mayor, city council, state representative, or governor to issue a proclamation celebrating your back-to-school event and highlighting one or more of the six key areas in education.
• Submit an article or guest column or write a letter to your local newspaper describing your event and explaining the importance of improving education in your community.
• Celebrate the new school year with a picnic for students and their families to learn about goals for the new school year and encourage their mutual roles in student achievement.
• Organize a sign-on event to encourage families, community organizations, businesses, and religious groups to participate in the U.S. Department of Education’s Partnership for Family Involvement in Education.
• Get the school band and cheerleading squad involved for a Back-to-School parade.
• Coordinate a rally with students, employers, community members, parents, and civic leaders as speakers – raise awareness of the need for greater involvement in education and support for educational improvement to be focused on for the coming year.
• Name a community back-to-school day or week and organize a variety of events during that time.

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