Ideas for Celebrating and Recognizing on Administrative Professonals Day

By Tracy Green
Oldham County Schools

Administrative Professionals Day may be a Hallmark Holiday, but it is still a reminder that our administrative professionals — secretaries, administrative assistants, receptionists, etc. — support us every day. Without them, most of our districts would be an absolute disaster!

In Oldham County, we presented each of our admin pros with a token of appreciation — bags of Goldfish crackers with cheesy sayings on them. (Photo) That idea came from a great book called “100+ Ways to Recognize and Reward Your School Staff.” Many of our directors supplemented this small treat with their own gift, but we liked ensuring a sense of equity by making sure everyone received the same gift, too, and that nobody was left out.

I also make it a habit to remind principals to recognize their admin pros, and I email all of our office managers to tell them thanks, too. 

Some other fun ideas from across the state:

At Owensboro Independent, KSYPRA Board member Dave Kirk assembled district-themed pens and notes during the Final Four tournament (photo).

 In Bowling Green Independent, the leadership team shared the cost of providing lunch for their central office assistants. “They almost never get to enjoy something catered unless it’s leftovers from another meeting,” said KYSPRA president Leslie McCoy. And those same staff are usually tasked with ordering, setting up and cleaning up. An administrator also worked the reception desk through lunch — set up the room for lunch and the leadership team took care of clean up.

And, at KSBA HQ, our own Brad Hughes manned the phones while support staff had a pizza party.