The end of the school year is almost here—you and your students are so close to the finish line! Before students leave with all of their work, take the opportunity to really see and appreciate the growth that happened in your art room. Celebrate all of the ways your students and their art bloomed, and how you blossomed as an art teacher, too!
You and your students have put in so many hours of hard work—find a celebration that works for you!
Why Everyone Should Celebrate End-of-Year Growth
Whether you are just meeting with each student or putting on a schoolwide event, when every art teacher takes time to celebrate the work and growth that occurs at the end of the year, it makes a big difference. Celebrating shows students that their time and effort were worth it and motivates them to continue improving. It also gives them perspective on their artistic accomplishments and encourages them to think about new creative goals and dreams. It also fills our art teacher buckets, fueling our passion for the visual arts and the field of art education.
On a more practical level, celebrating gives you an opportunity to promote your program to your administration and future students, as well as build community. If your administration doesn’t spend much time in the art room, this is the perfect time to invite them in! They can see all the work your students produced and talk to students about their learning. The energy and joy at end-of-year celebrations are always contagious and will motivate them to return.
Small Celebration Ideas
It is totally okay to start where you are and do what is easiest for you. If you feel like you don’t have the time or resources to celebrate, start by using five minutes of your planning time to send one email. It can be a mass email to all of your students and families about the wonderful year you had, or you can target a specific group of standout students. Another quick idea is to take a couple of minutes to add a celebration to a document you already have and use. For example, after the day’s drawing prompt, you can add a slide highlighting a specific milestone or moment of the year!
Make an impact with even the smallest celebration:
- Send an email home with images of art and learning from the year.
- Add a quick announcement highlighting an achievement to kick off or end class.
- Invite your administrator to join you for your students’ last art gallery walk.
- Plan an art walk for multiple classes so students can see new artwork.
- Hang up each student’s favorite piece of the year for a summer and back-to-school display.
- Collect feedback on successful teaching strategies and fun art projects.
Medium Celebration Ideas
If you feel you are in a place to put in a little more time and effort to celebrate growth this year, try a medium-sized celebration. These are great options if you have a few planning periods or days to dedicate to student recognition. Remember to document these positive moments to share with your administration, school board, or other stakeholders, making an extra impact with minimal effort.
Go the extra mile with these ways to celebrate your students and program:
- Comment on each student’s portfolio with a specific praise about their character this year and/or their artwork.
- Copy the same praise in a quick correspondence home to family.
- Write out cards for each student.
- Meet individually with students to discuss their growth.
- Ask other staff members to write notes to students about their work.
- Hang student art in a library or other public space.
- Invite a local artist to review student work and provide feedback.
- Ask college art students or college professors to sit in on the final critique or art walk.
Huge Celebration Ideas
Your students love the opportunity to show off their work to their school and community. Students enjoy hearing their teachers and friends compliment their work, but when a community member or administrator takes notice, it shows them their work is professionally valued and respected. It’s time to go all out!
There are two routes to take with a huge celebration. You can create your own event from scratch or collaborate with a colleague or stakeholder to merge efforts for a joint event. Both options will increase your program’s reach and really validate your students! Events can take a lot of work to get off the ground and running, so you may want to save the idea now to start planning in the fall.
Fine Arts Night
Many art teachers have an end-of-year art show. This can be a solo effort at your school or a collaborative effort with your district or county. You can display work in your building or in a community space. Not only can everyone recognize your program and students’ work, but there’s an opportunity to highlight exemplary artists and artwork with awards at a reception.
Check out this monthly guide to putting together a schoolwide fine arts night or art reception:
- August
Work with your administrator and/or activities director to get a date and location on the school calendar. - September-February
Collect art throughout the year in a designated area and recruit responsible students to help with various tasks such as matting and labeling. - March-April
Tackle all of the administrative tasks like invitations, emails, advertisements, artist statements, signage, social media posts, and donations. - May
Create a weekly and a daily schedule of the remaining tasks and who will complete them. Don’t forget to include the day after the event to cover take-down and cleanup!
Academic Awards Night
Some schools already host academic awards nights. Bring your students’ work to the wider student body by merging your art celebration with another! At an academic awards night, teachers from each subject get together to nominate students who demonstrate dedication to their subject. The school will send out letters to the families informing them that their student is a nominee. The teachers announce the winners live on stage and present an award! This avenue is wonderful because it puts fine arts on equal footing with other academic subjects.
As the end of the school year approaches, take time to slow down and appreciate all of the time, effort, and hard work you and your students put in! Celebrating their wins and growth is incredibly meaningful to how they will appreciate the arts for the rest of their lives. It’s also a way to keep you inspired and passionate as an art teacher. Whether it’s sending a quick email before summer break or collaborating with other departments for an academic awards night, the work you do matters and deserves to be highlighted!
What traditions do you use in your art room to celebrate your students at the end of the year?
What is one small step you can take to level up student recognition?
To chat about celebrating student growth with other art teachers, join us in The Art of Ed Community!
Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.
