High School Activities Week Offers Schools Chance to Recognize Programs, Coaches, Participants
By Staff | Tuesday, October 06, 2009 12:25 PM
National High School Activities Week was created in 1980 by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) as a means to promote the value of interscholastic activity programs across the country, and in 1983, President Reagan and the U.S. Congress officially set aside one week to recognize the importance of these activities.
For almost three decades, schools across the nation have participated in highlighting their athletic and fine arts programs and recognizing their dedicated coaches, sponsors and directors, fans and officials. This year the designated week is Oct. 11-17.
This annual fall event does not celebrate the record of any individual team or the success of a fine arts group, but rather the overall importance and value of interscholastic activities programs.
• Sunday, Oct. 11—National Be A Sport Day: to encourage awareness and discussion about the importance of sportsmanship, ethics and integrity to the conduct of interscholastic programs.
• Monday, Oct. 12—National Fine Arts Activities Day: to focus on the students, coaches and sponsors involved in fine arts programs.• Tuesday, Oct. 13—National Officials Day: to salute the approximately 500,000 individuals who serve as contest officials and judges.
• Wednesday, Oct. 14—National Youth Health Awareness Day: to promote education and prevention efforts that encourage healthy lifestyles.
• Thursday, Oct. 15—National Coaches/Sponsors/Advisors Day: to recognize the contributions of high school coaches, sponsors and advisors.
• Friday, Oct. 16—National Fan Appreciation Day: to thank the spectators who support activity programs throughout the year.
• Saturday, Oct. 17—National Community Service/Participation Day: to give back to your community and show your appreciation.
Ideas for National High School Activities Week
The UIL staff brainstormed ideas to help schools celebrate National High School Activity Week. The ideas are as follows:
For the entire week:
• Have various student groups work together to generate creative and inexpensive ways to celebrate each day of activities week.
• Use your main campus sign(s) and your school’s web site to promote the week and/or specific days.
• Do a feature story in the school paper. Contact your local paper for coverage.
• Create locker signs (if school policy permits) to recognize the various groups on different days.
• Create PSAs to use at all school events to promote awareness and/or express appreciation.
• If you have student production capabilities, work with that department to create ‘shorts’ to celebrate each day. If you don’t, use morning announcements or your web site.
Be a Sport Day
• Plan a special welcome for any visiting teams during the week.
• In PE or athletic classes, have students write an essay on what good sportsmanship looks like and what their experiences with good/bad sportsmanship have been.
• Make signs for the lunchroom, hallways or other areas with good citizenship/sportsmanship mottos or quotations.
• Have a student service organization, the pep squad or cheerleaders give small ‘special recognition’ awards to those who have demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship or citizenship.
• Use poster board to create a temporary mural with photos and quotations about sportsmanship and citizenship.
• Feature stories in the school newspaper or web site about students, teams or fans who have demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship.
Fine Arts Day
• Have art classes make a display for the cafeteria or school hallways.
• Have the band, choir or students from the theatre or speech departments perform during lunch, at some evening event or at a local nursing home or assisted living facility.
• Get a local museum or theatre to give students discounted tickets.
• Create a DVD of student performances in arts of all kinds and run it as a loop in the cafeteria.
• Provide a taco breakfast or a basket of cookies for the coaches, directors and advisors in your fine arts activities.
• Invite a former student who makes a living in the field of arts to visit classes and talk about career opportunities.
Officials Day
• Have students write thank you notes to officials and contest judges.
• Ask local businesses to provide discounts for the day for officials who show their official membership card ID.
• Provide local businesses with window signs to thank officials.
• Invite a respected official to address the athletes or entire student body of your campus about serving as an official.
• Have class or team competitions of “You Make the Call,” featuring questions on sports rules.
• Have a round table discussion with officials, parents and students.
Health Awareness
• Have a health awareness fair in the cafeteria during lunch - invite local doctors, etc. Students could also have booths. Ask student or adult sports trainers to address the issue of healthy lifestyles and responsible choices.
• Create a list of good web links for students and parents to access healthy lifestyle information from your school Web site.
• See if local health professional would allow students to ‘shadow’ them for the day.
• Use bulletin boards or porters to highlight healthy lifestyle choices.
• Recognize the school nurse, professional and student athletic trainers and/or the team doctor.
Coaches/Advisor Day
• Have a ‘teacher pep rally’ for the coaches or advisers.
• Allow coaches or advisers to eat free in the cafeteria that day or receive a free dessert.
• Ask non-coaching faculty to be ‘coaches for the day.’
• Create a small ‘goody bag’ for all coaches, sponsors, advisors and directors of UIL events and other school activities.
Fan Appreciation
• Make thank you signs for fan for the Friday night volleyball and football games.
• Partner with a local business to give fans a discount at a local restaurant with their ticket stub. Recognize fans attending events that day (including visiting fans!) for outstanding displays of sportsmanship.
• Offer a tailgate party with refreshments.
• Recognize the parents of all student participants throughout the week.
• Have local media feature the fan with the longest attendance record in your community.