5 School Assembly Planning Tips

You may be the Principal, Counselor, PTA President or a Community Leader who wants their students to hear a powerful message. You’ve been assigned the duty of planning a school assembly during this calendar year and you don’t know where to start.

Here are 5 school assembly planning tips to help you get started:

1. Choose your topic. Every school assembly will have a thought out theme that the school can rally around. Some known topics include: Drug Abuse, Bullying Prevention, Cyber Safety, Wise Choices or Staying Motivated. Be sure to have students involved in activities leading up to the assembly and after the assembly that reflect the message of the gathering.

2. Create a budget. Know what you have to work with before you begin planning. Like any gathering, it’s going to cost money to pull off a school assembly. PTA & PTO groups know this is true because from day one they are fundraising for student activities. Most schools combine money from different accounts to pull off an unforgettable assembly for their students.

3. Choose a date/time/venue. Look at the calendar and book early. Most speakers and entertainers are booked 1-3 months in advance. Set a couple dates that are convenient for the school and continue planning. Morning times work best because students can have time to debrief the message as to having a show at the end of the day and students leaving right when the assembly is over. Be sure to have a venue in mind that will allow the entire student body to sit comfortably or else you may have to pay a little more for an additional assembly. Auditoriums are best for speakers and gymnasiums are perfect for entertainers such as a BMX Freestyle Team.

4. Hire a speaker. I know that you have a cousin that is funny and he can speak to your students during his lunch break but remember that your reputation is on the line. This is especially crucial if your school wants a prevention message. Hire an anti-bullying speaker with prevention experience that knows how to sustain a young audience for at least an hour. Shouldn’t your students get the best that their school can provide? Tap into the community if your school has zero budget and see if a local business or non-profit can sponsor an event.

5. Invite parents and community. Always keep parents in the loop when you invite an external person/group that is going to influence their kid. Host a parent night the evening of the school assembly to increase parent participation. Students will go home and talk about the fun school assembly and will likely tell their parents or guardian to attend the night session. Tip: food will get more parents to attend so have a restaurant sponsor/cater the evening meal.

These five tips will help you in your school assembly planning efforts. Our team has worked with numerous school districts across the nation and would love to work with anyone who is working to plan a school assembly. Contact Us about your next assembly.

Student Activity Funds | School Accounts | Fundraising Companies

Student activity funds are to be used by schools to purchase products or programs that directly benefit students.

A school assembly is a good example of when student activity funds are used to pay for a program. Programs are to contribute to the educational experience of what the school is trying to accomplish.

If the school is being proactive about bullying, then funds can be used to purchase items or programs that educate students about ways to prevent bullying.  High schools dealing with students using illegal substances may use their student activity funds to hire a motivational speaker to address drug abuse in a school assembly setting.

How to increase student activity funds?

Funds are usually raised throughout the year by the faculty, staff, parents and students of the school. Schools will allow students to engage in fundraising events throughout the year. Here’s a list of school fundraising companies that can help you get your fund started. Once you’ve signed up for a company, make their products available everywhere.

For example, everyone knows about World’s Finest Chocolate bars. If you sign up under them, then sell chocolate bars at all school-wide events and ask community businesses to help sell the bars as well.

Consider hosting a car wash, selling BBQ plates or candy to raise money. Having all families eat at a local restaurant is a newer way to raise money for a school. Money from the fundraisers are then put into a student activity account within the normal school budget.

Sometimes, the PTA membership will replenish money for the fund so the school can purchase products or programming. Check with your local school to see if they have any student activity funds.  Then, look for ways to use those funds to add educational value to the entire student body.

Budgeting For School Assembly Speaker Fees | Community Grants

Can my school use community grants to pay for a youth motivational speaker? Yes.

It’s true, we’ve had a lot of schools call us without a budget and then we found that they were surrounded by resources to pay for a speaker to come and deliver a powerful message for their students.

When I speak, I touch on topics such as: mental health, youth suicide, bullying & drug prevention. Many organizations receive Title I funds and community grants to help pay for a speakers fee so they can come to their community and train students and adults. My approach is such as a training because students learn skills to help them cope with bullying and I teach students how to respond when they bullied on campus.

So contact our office and let’s start the discussion on planning your next event. Parent engagement is lacking in many schools, so let’s work together to improve that. I usually speak during the day to students and I ask them to invite their parents to come back later in the evening and then I speak at a parent night. Having a parent night will enable you to use community grants to pay for the event.

The number one issue for parent nights is that parents rarely show up. I’ve seen it over and over. The school has a goal of having 50 parents in attendance and they end up with ten. If you bring in a speaker during the day, students will run home and tell their parents to come in the evening. Here are some school assembly planning tips to help as you prepare to host your next event.

Also, if you plan on having a parent night, make sure to budget a meal and the amount of parents in attendance will increase.

This format has been a home run and I know it’ll be a huge success for your school as well.

Title I Funds

Title I funds can be used to pay for community school events. Title I schools have federal funding to help increase academic levels. The main purpose of the funding is to help children from low-achieving area increase their scores to meet state standards. Hosting a school assembly can be done by hiring outside staff to instruct teachers and students about a certain topic like: Drug prevention, bullying prevention and academic success.

By having a parent night in addition to a school assembly, not only can students learn but the parents can be on the same page with their children. It’s mandatory in some states to have professional development events throughout the year and Title I funds can be used to pay to hire outside speakers.

Ask the school district about how they budget for speakers so your school can start planning a school assembly this school year.

PTA | Parent Teacher Association Members

After speaking at a middle school in San Antonio, I asked the Principal how they found me and she mentioned to me that the Parent Teacher Association® (PTA) was in charge of bringing me in. They raised the funds and used some of their own to have me speak to their children about school bullying and how to respond to bullies.

I was truly honored when I found out that the PTA paid for the assemblies. In my mind I think of ladies having bake sales to raise money but it’s definately different. These are men and women who take the time to be a part of their child’s education by getting involved at their school. They spend hours attending meetings and building relationships with other parents in their community. They pay dues be members and they research programs that can be useful for their students. They network with other PTA members from nearby schools.

I cannot say enough how impressed I am by this Association. From what I read the number of members are slowly decreasing but still those who are members are carrying the torch for their kids.

As you can see from the image above, the middle school thanked the PTA on their school sign.

Educational Funding Grants | Title VI | School District Budget

Are you a dedicated and resourceful teacher trying to find some educational funding grants to bring new innovative ideas and programs for your classroom? Do you feel if you only had more funds you could really make a huge difference in the education of your students and maybe touch them at a deeper and more level? Do you have ideas that you know can make an impact on your students?

Thankfully you found this site, because we are here to help guide you in changing the lives of your students. In fact, that is what we are dedicated to, changing lives and making an impact.

There are many resources to help you financially accomplish your goals. Some are easier to obtain than others, so lets start with the easiest way. The very first thing you should do is contact your school administration and see if they received educational funding grants.

Many teachers turn to their student activity funds to get the money that they need, but that can sometimes dry up too quickly leaving many teachers desperate without much needed resources. So where can you realistically turn after that to get the help you need?

You would be surprised how often this grant gets overlooked. Did you know that every September the federal government gives money to school districts in the form of Title VI funding and you can get some of it for your own unique teacher in-service programs to help you in the classroom?

Don’t worry it isn’t too difficult to get either. In order to apply, you simply need to write up a small proposal of what you will do with the grant money and submit it to your district office before the deadline. (Most district deadlines are in August.)

As long as you meet the requirements for the district funding you will be able to use that money to help inspire and educate your students in the best way possible.

If you are unsure about how to write up your grant proposal, many school districts offer classes or workshops to help you in the process. Many teachers have expressed that Title VI grants were a lot less difficult and significantly less competitive to obtain than they thought it would be.

You have great ideas and you have a vision for your students. Don’t let finances keep you from turning it into a reality. If you are in need of some additional ideas for projects to add to your grant proposal, consider bringing Fabian Ramirez into your classroom and allowing him to connect with your students. He also speaks at school assemblies across the nation. Check to see if your school has received educational grants and if so, use that funding to have an assembly.