American Education Week 2008

November 16–22

Great Public Schools: A Basic Right and Our Responsibility

Education Support Professionals Day

NEA Executive Committee Member Paula Monroe thanks Baltimore County bus drivers (from l-r) Joan Slaugher and Siglinde Pritchett at Ridge Ruxton Middle School in Baltimore for the invaluable services they provide. Monroe visited the school as part of NEA's national Education Support Professionals Day activities on Wednesday, November 19, 2008.

Education Support Professionals at Ridge Ruxton Middle School received gift bags from NEA. © 2008 Photos by Patrick G. Ryan. Courtesy of the National Education Association. All Rights Reserved.

NEA's 87th annual American Education Week (AEW) spotlights the importance of providing every child in America with a quality public education from kindergarten through college, and the need for everyone to do his or her part in making public schools great.

Daily event schedule:

• Monday, November 17: Open House Day
• Tuesday, November 18: Parents Day
• Wednesday, November 19: Education Support Professionals Day
• Thursday, November 20: Educator for a Day
• Friday, November 21: Substitute Educators Day

Free Tip Sheets and Materials

NEA is proud to team up with Sylvan Learning to promote American Education Week by offering tips for lifelong learning success to parents, teachers, and students. Check out our free e-cards and tip sheets!

Use Our Toolkit to Plan Your AEW Event

Use our online tools to plan your celebration. Complete with our 2008 poster, downloadable templates, checklists, and activity ideas, the AEW toolkit has all you need to make event planning easy.

C.L.E.A.N. Award—Nominate Your School Custodian!

NEA Health Information Network (HIN), in partnership with the Soap and Detergent Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is launching the first annual C.L.E.A.N. (Custodial Leaders for Environmental Advocacy Nationwide) Award to recognize the outstanding contributions custodians make to public health.  For more information, visit www.neahin.org/programs/cleanaward.html.

Educators First: Members of Congress Remember Their Days in the Classroom

More than 75 legislators were educators before their election to Congress. Do you know who they are?

The materials presented here reflect NEA's mission as an advocate for the nation's public schools, school employees, and the communities they serve.

Other organizations are free to use this material or create their own. If you use this material, please credit NEA as the creator of content (art, theme, articles, resources).