School Assemblies - Seasonal Programs

If you are looking for ideas for school assemblies that are relevant to the curriculum then one good plan is to try and tie things to the calendar. I like to think of these as “seasonal” programs. 

 The first time frame that comes to mind is February, otherwise known as both Presidents Month and Black History Month.

February is a great time to schedule a visit from Abraham Lincoln or George Washington. Most schools have some kind of instruction about these two great men during the month, and a school assembly featuring one of them “in the flesh” is an awesome way to top things off. By the same token, a wonderful way to draw attention to the accomplishments of African Americans during Black History Month is to schedule an assembly featuring Martin Luther King, Frederick Douglas or Harriett Tubman.
A visit from one of these characters is an excellent way to focus attention on the many and varied contributions of African Americans. A program on Martin Luther King can also be very useful to help celebrate the birthday of the great man in January, while also providing an opportunity to have an assembly right after the Christmas break that will get things off to a great start!!

March is a special month,too, having been designated as Women’s History month.
Why not tie into this with a program on famous women. Mobile Ed has two, They Made a Difference, as well as The Spirit to Overcome. Either is a great choice but there are many others available as well, including programs on wives of the presidents, and on famous suffragettes.

April, of course is Earth Month, and a perfect time to focus on environmental issues. As such, it is a wonderful time to schedule The Earth Dome, or a visit by Dr. Exhaustus and his program on Our Changing Climate.

You might also decide to bring in a program such as Animals and the Environment, featuring live animals and designed to educate kids on the environmental challenges facing wild animal populations. 

There are many holidays and events through out the year that will also lend themselves to special assemblies. Parochial schools, of course, usually look for programs to feature during Catholic Schools week at the end of January, while Lutheran schools week is in March. And some schools look for something to celebrate Veteran’s day.

Then there is Red Ribbon week in October, with it’s focus on Alcohol, Tobacco and Drug use prevention. This is a marvelous time to bring in something like Bodyworks, which deals with human anatomy but also stresses the downside of substance abuse. Other schools like to utilize something on Character Counts at this time of year, and this is a good theme to schedule early in the Fall anyway as it can then help to establish a tone for the entire year.

One last time part of the year that is often forgotten is December. With the rush toward the Christmas break following Thanksgiving, PTA representatives often forget that this is a great time for an educational assembly program. Why? Well, it is our experience that kids are kids, and when they know they are getting close to a vacation their attention in class can, uh, how shall we say? ... wander? Drift? Well an exciting curriculum based assembly program will trick them into learning something in spite of themselves. Something like Chemistry! It Really Matters!, replete with
explosions, fireballs and liquid Nitrogen freezing is guaranteed to hold their attention even when kids are really only wanting to think about writing Christmas lists!

If you do decide to try and tie your programs to events throughout the year, one word of caution. Schedule early! Dates for particular theme related times fill in quickly. Don’t wait until November to try and get an Abraham Lincoln impersonator school program for Abraham Lincoln’s birthday! You will likely find that it was already booked by another school months ago!