How to Prepare End of School Year Awards
The end of the school year is often a time of celebration of success and reflection upon a year of hard work. Many schools plan and implement end-of-the-year award ceremonies at which they recognize the success of their hard-working students. Students enjoy this recognition and take pride in their efforts. Organizing an end-of-the-year award ceremony is an easy way to give your students the reward they deserve and motivate them to continue their dedication to academic pursuits in the future.
Things You'll Need
- Event venue
- Award certificates
- Trophies
- Medals
- School year pictures
- PowerPoint
- LCD projector
- Projection screen
Instructions
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Secure a venue. End-of-the-year awards often can be held in the school building. Auditoriums and gymnasiums are wonderful sites for award ceremonies. If your school lacks the space necessary to host an award ceremony, contact local banquet facilities and theaters to inquire about space availability. Many times, event facilities will offer discounts to schools that wish to use the facilities for academic purposes. Decide upon a date and time and reserve your venue.
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Create a list of awards. Most schools try to reward as many of their students as possible. This practice ensures that all students have the opportunity to feel the pride associated with receiving an award. Make a list of awards appropriate to your school. Consider grade-point awards, perfect attendance certificates, club recognition, sports awards, excellence awards, student-of-the-year selections and individual teacher awards. The more awards you offer, the more students will have the opportunity to receive recognition.
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Gather pictures to create a slide show. Facilitate student reflection on the events of the year by gathering pictures and incorporating them into a slide show. Use PowerPoint or another slide show creation program to make your memory-filled presentation. Add music to the background of your slide show to create a polished final project.
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Plan for necessary audio/visual equipment. When conducting large ceremonies, use a microphone so the audience can hear without straining. Set up an LCD projector to project your slide show onto the stage. Place a drop down screen or blank background on the stage so that you have a surface upon which to project your slide show. Connect your computer to the auditorium speakers so your audience can hear the slide show music.
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Prepare certificates and purchase trophies. Decide upon how you want to commemorate each award. Use a computer and publishing or word processing program to create certificates, or order awards such as trophies or medals from a specialty company. Order trophies and medals well in advance to ensure that they arrive in time for the ceremony.
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Invite students to speak. End-of-the-year ceremonies can benefit from the inclusion of student performances. Ask students to create speeches or performances to give at the ceremony. Coach these students and help them polish their work in preparation for the event.
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Select a master of ceremonies. Ask a staff member to volunteer to lead the awards ceremony. Once a volunteer has been selected, meet with him regularly to ensure that he is prepared for the ceremony.
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Create an order of events. Make an outline of the order in which events will occur. You may want to script out the presentation of awards to make it easier for the presenter.
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Make a program. List the awards, student performances and presentation information in a program. Print out copies of this program to distribute to the audience.
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Send out invitations. Invite student honorees and their loved ones as well as staff and prominent community members to attend the ceremony. Create an invitation to give the event a polished feel.
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