Oklahoma State School Boards Association

january 2021

school Board Recognition Month

In salute and gratitude to the more than 2,700 Oklahoma school board members, January 2021 is designated as School Board Recognition Month. This is your opportunity to build community awareness and understanding about the crucial role an elected board member assumes in a representative democracy. Their commitment to service and public education affects the present and future lives of our children and our communities.
School Board Recognition Month honors the efforts of thousands of men and women who help to shape the direction of Oklahoma public education and their collective focus on student achievement. School board members voluntarily tackle the enormous job of governing school districts while preserving the core of our democratic values. This observance offers you an opportunity to build a stronger relationship between your school board members and the community.
We hope you will take the opportunity to help acknowledge thousands of public servants who make the time to share their vision and voice for the future of Oklahoma’s children. Use this time as an opportunity to highlight the accomplishments of your local board. Encourage community leaders, business partners and local civic groups to join in your recognition efforts. Take advantage of January’s School Board Recognition Month and the resources provided by OSSBA to assure that these dedicated people are recognized for their work on behalf of children, youth and families.

school board recognition month

resources

Activities and Tips

Here you’ll find dozens of ideas that may be used to celebrate School Board Recognition Month. Don’t let this opportunity slip by without some sort of thanks and recognition for your school board members.

News Release

Copy and paste the news release on district letterhead and submit it to the local media. Be sure to add information about special ceremonies or events you are planning for your board members.

Letter to the Editor

Use the provided sample letter to let readers know it’s School Board Recognition Month and to send a positive message about public education and your district’s accomplishments.

Sample Article

The article can be adapted for use in your district newsletter, as an article in your local newspaper, as a letter to the editor, or as the foundation of a speech.

Recognize your board members with personalized recognition certificates provided complimentary by OSSBA

Recognition Certificate Request Form

Use this form to request free personalized certificates to recognize school board members during school board recognition month.

School District*
Contact Email Address*
Superintendent's Name*
First Last
Board Member's Name*
First Last
Board Member's Name
First Last
Board Member's Name
First Last
Board Member's Name
First Last
Board Member's Name
First Last
Board Member's Name
First Last
Board Member's Name
First Last
Date Certificates will be Presented*
MM
DD
YYYY
Method of Delivery
The certificates can be personalized and then emailed to the district to print, or they can be printed by the OSSBA and mailed to the district. Please indicate your preference below.
Email certificates to:
Mail certificates to:
Street Address Address Line 2 City State ZIP Code
Mailing Address Attention Name:
First Last

Education Quotes to Use During School Board Recognition Month

“Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.”

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.”

—Robert Frost

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

—William Butler Yeats

“Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.”

—Malcolm Forbes

“There is a place in America to take a stand: it is public education. It is the underpinning of our cultural and political system. It is the great common ground. Public education after all is the engine that moves us as a society toward a common destiny… It is in public education that the American dream begins to take shape.”

—Tom Brokaw

“Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education.”

—John F. Kennedy

“As a product of the public education system, I want all American students to have what I had—access to a quality education that enables them to pursue any career they wish, and take on any challenge they choose. Giving our students the best education in the world is a moral imperative and, especially, an economic necessity.”

—Richard Riley, former U.S. Secretary of Education

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed individuals can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”

—Margaret Meade

“If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.”

—Chinese proverb

“A man with little learning is like the frog who thinks its puddle a great sea.”

Burmese proverb

“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”

—B.B. King

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

—Gandhi

“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.”

—Malcolm X