National Education Support Professionals Day
National Education Support Professionals Day:
Observed annually on Wednesday during the American Education Week, the National Education Support Professionals Day is dedicated to honoring the services and hard work of the Education Support Professionals (ESPs) towards the school and the students.
Year | Date | Day | Where |
2020 | 18th November | Wednesday | United States |
2021 | 17th November | Wednesday | United States |
2022 | 16th November | Wednesday | United States |
Twitter Hashtags:
#NationalEducationalSupportProfessionalsDay
#EducationSupportProfessionalsDay
Why National Education Support Professionals Day?
The National Education Support Professionals Day was founded to recognize the efforts of ESPs in public education.
The ESPs usually include everyone from school secretaries, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, classroom aides, school nurses, security guards, building maintenance people, computer tech professionals, custodians, and many more.
The American Education Week fits each year before the Thanksgiving week and is a perfect way to be thankful for all the ESPs who contribute so much! It is a special day to show gratitude for all the ESPs for keeping the school running, students safe and healthy, and for offering support throughout the school day.
The National Education Association (NEA) in 1987, dedicated a day to salute all the School Support Employees and were identified for the first time as the “Education Support Personnel”. In 2002, the NCESP, campaigned successfully to change the name to “Education Support Professionals”. This shift recognizes their proud contributions to positive and supportive learning environments.
Nearly three million ESPs are represented by the NEA. The ESPs are part of the important members of the Public Schools. They constitute one-third of the population of the total education workforce.
Therefore, to help students, parents, and teachers to acknowledge the day for ESPs, NEA has come up with a guide to celebrate National ESPs Day! The guide suggests various activities, creative communication ideas, and other amazing ways such as relaxing spa treatments, delicious shared food, and movie tickets to show appreciation!
There are many other ways to show your appreciation too as many ESPs contribute more than their official duty for the students! So for all the reasons above, we celebrate the National Education Support Professionals Day!
How Can We Observe National Education Support Professionals Day?
- Thank your special ESP’s
If you have a favorite ESPs, give them a thank you card to show your appreciation for their efforts! You can think creatively and come up with different ways to convey gratitude too!
- Organize events to reward their achievements!
As many ESPs work effortlessly to provide better public education, many go way beyond your expectations. So take note of all these hardworking ESPs and organize a day to reward the achievements!
- Interview a few ESPs to know them better!
Many of us fail to bond with our ESPs and most of us don’t know who they really are as a person! , so take this day to interview a few of the ESPs and get to know them better and continue to stay in touch with them!
- Write an article about ESPs in your School Magazine
Grab the opportunity to honor and appreciate the ESPs who are an important part of your school! Write an article dedicated to encouraging other students, teachers, and parents to respect and honor the various ESPs who work for your school and the students!
- As a teacher or parent write a blog to honor the ESPs
Share your thoughts on honoring the ESPs for their role in running the schools successfully in various forms! You could write a blog and use hashtags #NationalEducationalSupportProfessionalsDay and #EducationSupportProfessionalsDay to share on social media.
Interesting Facts About National Education Support Professionals Day:
Here a few interesting facts about Educational Support Professionals surrounding this day!
- ESPs tend to stay as dedicated and loyal staff members for long periods
- The longer employment period of the ESPs minimizes training expenses
- ESP jobs don’t pay much, but they offer greatly rewarding careers for men and women alike.
- Education Support Professionals constitute nearly 40% of the school’s staff.
- NEA was the first in 1987 to dedicate a day to honor ESPs
- In most cases, many of the female ESPs are primary or sole breadwinners of their families
- American women irrespective of being married or not, tend to work outside their homes for an average of 34 years!
- School bus drivers play a crucial role in driving the students safely to school and back home! In most cases, they are a point of contact for parents!
History Of National Education Support Professionals Day:
The day was founded by the National Education Association in 1987 to honor the Educational Support Professionals who aid in the successful running of the school, safety, and positive educational environment! Thus the National Educational Support Professionals Day was observed since 1987 although they were recognized as Educational Support Personnel until 2002.