HOLD A RECOGNITION EVENT
— AWARDS TO STUDENTS, TEACHERS AND PARTNERS
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GOAL: Recognize publicly the achievements of service-learning students, teachers and partners through awards given at a special recognition event.
DESCRIPTION: During Learn & Serve Challenge Week, hold an awards ceremony to recognize the service and achievements of your service-learning students, teachers and partners. This is a great opportunity to spread the good word about the benefits of service-learning across your community.
GETTING STARTED:
- Decide the scope of your event and who should attend.
- Determine how many people you will honor and how they will be chosen.
- Select a time, date and location for the event that will make it convenient for project participants, especially your honorees, to attend.
- Develop a small budget or list of items needed for your event.
- Contact the person or organization that controls the space to make sure you can use the site at the time and on the date you want.
- Decide whether you will invite others from the outside and/or whether to promote the event in advance in the newspaper, etc. This is your chance to invite public officials to learn about your program, and, of course, to encourage media to cover the event. [See the Learn & Serve Challenge Web site for how to do this.]
- Issue formal invitations where necessary.
- Plan the program. Make it short, informal and fun.
- Decide whether you will serve light refreshments; determine how they can be paid for, and who will be in charge.
- Select an emcee and decide who will make the award presentations.
- Decide what type of recognition you wish to give – your own certificates or small items (pins, T-shirts, etc.) -- and/or whether it is appropriate to present the President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) to one, some or all of your awardees. [See below for a description of the PVSA program.]
- Write up a brief description of their service and impact of each of your honorees for use at the ceremony and for any media (general press or school newsletters or newspapers).
- Line up a person to take photos at the event and someone to take down the names of those as they are photographed. (This will save you time and confusion later!) If proper releases have been signed, in addition to providing the pictures to media, you may wish to upload them to your school or organization Web site.
- Enjoy your special event and tell us about it by registering it on the Learn & Serve Challenge Web site.
RESOURCES:
President’s Volunteer Service Awards (PVSA)
In 2002, President George W. Bush issued a challenge to all Americans to make time to serve and to dedicate at least 4,000 hours or four years over the course of their lives to service. His Council on Service and Civic Participation created the PVSA program as a way to thank and honor Americans who have demonstrated their commitment to service and provided an example to others. There are several levels of awards and differing criteria for young people and adults. Nearly 700,000 Americans have received PVSAs since 2003.
You may wish to present the PVSA at your event. If so, please plan ahead as all awards must be ordered through officially registered and approved “Certifying Organizations,” which verify the hours of and nominate qualified volunteers; order and pay for the Awards; and distribute the Awards locally.
For information on the President’s Volunteer Service Award go to presidentialserviceawards.gov. The site explains what the awards are, who qualifies, the various levels and criteria for the award, how to register as an awarding organization, how to order certificates, awards, etc.
TIPS:
- Make the event space lively with service-learning posters, exhibits, etc. [See tip sheet on Open Houses]
- Students can get involved by creating a brief slide show or DVD highlighting their experiences. This can be shown while people are coming into the event or as part of the awards presentation.
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