Here’s a great way to promote your Family Math Night event. Use students! They love the responsibility of going into classrooms to share the event and the younger ones soak up what they have to say. And I love that it’s a great leadership opportunity for them. I call them my Family Math Night Ambassadors and tell them that they are official representatives of our Family Math Night event.

Training Students

Training your Ambassadors is super easy. I usually use upper elementary students and prepare a little “promotion” sheet for them to use (see below). The sheet lists the important items to cover in their presentation. I go over it with them then they practice a few times with each other so they can get comfortable with what they need to say.

Making Appointments

Before they can give their little schpeel in the classrooms, however, they need to make appointments with the teachers. I give the staff a heads-up that students will be seeking them out for a few minutes of their classroom time. Then these little Ambassadors can be seen buzzing around during recess or after school with their clipboards and pencils setting up their appointments.

Presentations

I like to pair students up when they give their presentation because going into classrooms can sometimes be a little intimidating. Plus it’s more fun with a friend.

On the promotion sheet I include a section where students can write down the date and time of their classroom presentations. It is their responsibility to remember it.

Depending on what you include at your Family Math Night event, you may want to tailor the information on the sheet to your specific event.

Share Sample Activities

During their presentation, students share a couple of sample activities which is intended to get kids excited about coming. For example, with one group, I sent them into the classrooms with a geoboard and a ladybug clock (from our Math Medley kit). Who doesn’t love geoboards and cute ladybugs?

Freebies and Other Fun Stuff

The students also share a sample of the free homework pass* participants will get for attending. Free passes are always a hit! Another hit – the estimation jar – especially when kids find out that whoever gets closest to the actual guess of the items in the jar gets to keep it. When they’re filled with Hershey’s kisses or some other yummy treat, well, kids get excited…and motivated to come!

And then of course, there are the super cool raffle items. And by now, every student in the school wants to attend Family Math Night. And that’s the idea!

But my favorite part of using students to promote your event is that this one little activity is filled with so many life skills – making appointments, keeping appointments, delivering a speech, answering questions… And isn’t that a part of what we’re supposed to do as educators – prepare students for life.

So use your students. It’s good for them and they do a fabulous job!

*You may want to get buy-in from staff before offering the free homework passes. But they really are a HUGE hit.