Time to be an ESP for a Day

November 16-20 marks the National Education Association’s (NEA) 104th annual celebration of American Education Week (AEW).  This year, Education Support Professionals Day will be celebrated on Wednesday, November 18. 

AEW celebrates and honors the team of people who work in our nation’s public schools, everyone from the bus driver and classroom teacher to the cafeteria worker and administrative staff, plus countless others.  

To mark this year's ESP Day, NEA is encouraging communities across the country to organize and participate in “Education Support Professionals for a Day” events at local public schools.  This toolkit provides resources and guidance to help you plan and host a successful event in your community. 

If your affiliate decides to host an event, please let us know. We would love to learn more about your plans and help amplify your efforts. If you need planning assistance or have any questions, please contact Christiana Campos at [email protected]. 

What is ESP for a Day?

Imagine members of your local community stepping into the shoes of our hard-working education support professionals for a day.  The ESP for a Day program provides a one-of-a-kind, behind the scenes look at the dedication, complexity, and passion that goes into ensuring our students succeed in school, and in life. The program invites community members to perform duties such as assisting bus drivers on bus routes, performing lunch and corridor duty, supervising recess, serving meals, and helping office staff with administrative tasks. 

Use this online toolkit to host an unforgettable ESP for a Day event in your school or district.  It has everything you need to plan, promote, and launch the program successfully! 

What will the event accomplish? 

ESP for a Day will: 

• Enhance communication among education support professionals and community leaders.  
• Promote the general public’s understanding of who ESPs are, what they do, and what they need to succeed.  
• Allow persons "outside" the school situation to better understand the realities and challenges of an ESP. 
• Underscore the need for adequate staffing, materials, and facilities for our schools in an era of budget cuts and generally declining resources.  
• Help to increase community awareness, through the media, of the needs of today's students and of the challenges school employees face.  

How to Organize the Program

Once you decide to conduct an ESP for a Day program, the first step should be to form a committee, with a chairperson, to develop a specific plan for your program. That proposal should then be reviewed by your local leadership. 

Next, arrange to meet with your superintendent or other administrative representative to develop a final plan suitable to everyone. (See sample letter at the end of this packet.) Once your committee has that proposal in hand, they can begin to launch the project. 

Specific objectives should include the following: 

• Developing a time frame for the project (see sample at the end of packet) to help keep you on schedule.  
• Deciding how many ESPs for a Day you need to invite to make the program a success.  
• Deciding how many "host ESPs" you will need to accommodate the guests.  
• Setting guidelines for guests and cooperating ESPs and communicating them to both.  
• Letting the school principal/s know about the program.  
• Establishing the media/public relations side of program and making sure that duties are specifically assigned.  
• Arranging for adequate evaluation/follow-up for the program, including an end of the school day reception, certificates of appreciation, thank you letters, and follow-up press releases.  

Who should you invite? 

Some examples of the people you might wish to invite are school committee members, legislators, local officials, business people, celebrities who live in town, and media representatives. 

Some general guidelines include the following: 

• Seek recognizable names in the community.  
• Seek people who are willing to do the mundane, as well as important tasks in school.  
• Seek salaried employees who will not lose money by participating.  
• If participants wear uniforms in their profession, they should wear their uniforms in class. This will give greater identification when photographs are taken.  

Sending invitations 

Once you've decided how many people to invite—and who they should be—send an invitation from your local Association president and your school administration (if it is a joint project; see sample at end of packet.) 

When you have your list of acceptances and cooperating school employees finalized, you can then pair them, and send each an ESP for a Day note indicating who their host ESP is and when they will be meeting prior to the actual day of the program (or suggesting they make their own arrangements to do so). At the same time, inform the school/host ESPs of the pairings. 

Once your pairings are finalized, fill out a form that lists host ESPs with ESPs for a Day (suggested format example appears at the end of this packet). The form should be kept for your own records, and copies should be sent to host ESPs, guests, and administration. 

Preparing host ESPs and Guests

The host ESPs are central to the success of this program since they will have the most contact throughout the day with the guests. As such, they will be the key "ambassadors" of your school and should have a common sense of the purpose of the day and some common objectives in meeting that purpose. 

Among the things you should convey to your cooperating ESPs are the following: 

• ESPs for a Day should become involved in the instructional process and should be actively involved to the maximum degree possible.  
• Make sure all host ESPs are aware of the publicity details for the day. Reporters may want to talk to ESPs as well as ESPs for a Day. There should be specific times during which photographers and reporters are allowed into the school to minimize disruptions. Make sure all host ESPs are aware of the times during which media coverage will be permitted.  

The ESP for a Day and the ESP/s should be thoroughly briefed concerning what the day will look like and  how the duties will be performed. Cooperating school employees should reassure all ESPs for a Day that they will be present at all times to step in and assist them. 

Promoting ESP for a Day 

Your first communication should be internal. Once you have set the guidelines for ESP for a Day in your community and finalized the program with school administration, those details should be communicated to all school employees. Be sure to email your internal audiences as well. 

Next, your PR team should perform the following functions: 

• Send out an initial news release, either directly from your Association or in conjunction with the school administration, announcing the scheduling of ESP for a Day and what it hopes to achieve (see sample below).  This release should be sent out about 10 days prior to the day of the program. 
• Try to make sure that one of your ESPs for a Day is an online influencer or journalist who can "double" his or her experience by writing about it or reporting it on the air. The entire ESP for a Day concept is a natural media event; whether a reporter participates or simply covers it, there are numerous story angles. Try to get the newspaper to send a photographer as well as a reporter.  
• Once all host ESPs have been paired with their ESPs for a Day, develop a directory or fact sheet on participants and send copies to all media (see sample below) Be sure this sheet details the specific times during which reporters and photographers will be permitted to enter the school. Disruption of the educational process must be held to a minimum.  
• Designate a media contact to which any questions can be directed.  
• If necessary, provide everyone with a map showing how to get to your school and where to meet.  
• Shortly before the actual day of the event, send a follow-up release to all media and provide the necessary details regarding time and place.  
• Develop a "tip sheet" for media, as a separate element or part of one of the above elements, indicating potential news/photo opportunities, as well as re-emphasizing specific items for entering classrooms and other school facilities.  
• If your ESPs for a Day are on social media, encourage them to share their experiences via Facebook and Twitter and to follow NEA Today on Facebook and Bluesky. Provide them with a list of sample posts to help promote the event.  
• Plan a reception in a central location immediately after school and/or a news conference or a series of interviews with ESPs for a Day to allow reporters to speak with participants to gain their impressions of the day's events. Consider inviting students to give the press another angle on the day's events. Ask the PTA/PTO to contribute refreshments to involve them as well.  
• Be sure to gather media coverage, send a copy to NEA Public Relations, and keep a copy for your Association's records.  

Don't forget to follow-up!

There are a number of important things to do after you hold your ESP for a Day event. If for some reason there is a lack of media coverage during the actual day, you should approach participants, gather a few comments, and put out an appropriate news release/story detailing their reactions. 

In addition to certificates of appreciation for guests, send thank you emails to all the people who contributed to the success of ESP for a Day, including your school superintendent, school committee members, media people, host ESPs, and school employees.