If you are a graduating senior, work with seniors, or know a senior who will be graduating in 2026, this information is for you!
Every year in May, Honors Graduation awards five $10,000 scholarships to deserving graduating seniors. Though May is still six months away, now is the time for students to be working on their projects for the scholarship application. Our scholarship is awarded based on community improvement projects, and these kinds of projects typically take several months or more to plan and carry out. We encourage all kinds of projects and look forward to seeing the amazing things that are happening in our communities.
Below are the links and information you will need to apply for our scholarship. We’d love if you could spread the word and share our scholarship information with any graduating seniors you may know!
This link will take you to our information page, where you can read about our Build A Better Scholarship, including rules, eligibility requirements, and deadline dates.
If you would like to read over some frequently asked questions, you can click here.
Having a hard time coming up with a project idea? Browse through the work of our previous winners here to get a feel for what kinds of projects have been successful.
We welcome any questions you may have about our scholarship program! Please contact us at scholarship@honorsgraduation.com and we will do our best to get back to you as soon as we can.
As a student, field trip days were highly anticipated days— a break from the “normal” school routine and schedule, eating lunch somewhere other than the cafeteria, and a chance to ride the bus with your friends! What more could a student ask for?!
For teachers, though, it’s a bit more involved than just hopping on the bus and going somewhere fun. You’ve got to coordinate and pay for the bus. You also have to arrange with the lunchroom staff so they can plan accordingly and have sack lunches made for the students who need them. There’s also a need for chaperones, so you’ve got to plan in advance and get volunteers worked out. It’s definitely more work than staying in the classroom teaching a lesson. Even though field trips are a lot of work for teachers, there are good educational benefits that come from the experiences students have while on them. Field trips give students hands on learning experiences and let them learn in ways that are sometimes hard to do in the classroom.
While unlimited field trips would be an amazing thing for schools, that just isn’t the case— there are budgets that must be adhered to and it just isn’t feasible in so many ways. Today, however, technology has made it possible for teachers to “take” their classes on field trips all over the world, allowing students to experience places they likely wouldn’t have had the chance to otherwise.
Zoos and other wildlife facilities across the planet have set up cameras to livestream various animals for people to watch. Museums around the world have filmed tours of their sites. Historic places have filmed and set up interactive tours to allow students to get an up close look at things of the past. It’s really quite incredible!
When learning about our nation’s symbols, important government buildings, and so on, my son’s kindergarten class took a virtual tour of Washington DC. My son came home so excited to tell us all about the things he had learned and seen on his field trip. As a parent, I was so grateful he had that opportunity, because taking him to actually see those places in person wasn’t an option at the time.
Many of the places that provide virtual field trips also provide lesson plans and activities that teachers can use to teach about the places, people, and things at their location. Not only do students get to experience somewhere new and exciting, but teachers get to enjoy preplanned lessons!
There are so many places that offer these virtual field trips, and a simple Google search will provide you with a list of possibilities to choose from. That being said, below you will find a list of links to various places that offer these virtual experiences for your students. Feel free to explore and share any that you find interesting! Happy field tripping!
Great Lakes Now provides videos, lesson plans, and other educational information about the Great Lakes.
The Nature Conservancy allows students to visit and learn about various aspects of nature all around the world.
Not everyone will have the chance to visit Amsterdam to see the Anne Frank house in person, but you can watch a virtual tour of it here.
If you’ve ever wanted to experience what life in colonial Williamsburg, Virginia was like, you can explore the town here.
The Natural History Museum provides an expansive look at many aspects of the people, places, and animals of past years. If you want an up close look at some of their exhibits, past and present, you can experience that here.
For your students who are interested in the way Amazon fulfills orders, this virtual tour might be an exciting opportunity for them to see how it all works!
Students can learn all about what happens to our garbage and recycling through this virtual tour shared by Republic Services.
There are so many opportunities to create and carry on family traditions during the holidays. We don’t have to create traditions that are a huge production— sometimes a quiet night at home with people you love is the best way to spend your time. Have you ever considered making books or reading part of your holiday traditions? There’s not much that is better than finding a cozy corner in your house, curling up with a soft blanket, and reading some good books, and Fall time is the perfect time to cozy up with your family and read some fun books together!
To get you started, I’ve selected a few books about Fall that will get you in the spirit of Autumn!
It’s Fall! by Linda Glaser with cut-paper illustrations by Susan Swan
This darling book follows a little boy as he explores and experiences Fall, learning about all the things that happen during this time of year. He notices the leaves changing colors, the animals starting to get ready to hibernate, the leaves falling, and the temperatures cooling. They plant bulbs in their yard in preparation for next Spring, snd he plays in the piles of leaves that have fallen off the trees.
The illustrations in this book are phenomenal— they were all created out of paper then photographed for the book.
Sammy in the Fall by Anita Bijsterbosch
Sammy is a curious little tiger who loves going on adventures with his stuffed horse, Hob. Together, they do all sorts of fun Fall activities, like picking apples, raking leaves and jumping into the piles, collecting acorns, doing crafts, and playing in the rain.
The illustrations are adorable and the story is fun and engaging for younger kids.
The Roll-Away Pumpkin by Junia Wonders and illustrated by Daniela Volpari
Marla Little finds herself in quite a predicament: her giant pumpkin has started to roll away, and she can’t catch it. As she runs behind it, trying to stop it from rolling any farther, she exclaims, “Diddle-dee-doo! Oh, what shall I do?” She follows her pumpkin through town, and with every place her pumpkin rolls by, she gathers a new towns person to help her stop the pumpkin. Soon, the baker, the butcher, the farmer, the milk man, and the parade marchers are all running after the roll-away pumpkin with Marla. The pumpkin starts to get close to where some people are trying to cook a feast for the townspeople. Acting quickly, Marla flips a giant cauldron onto its side just in time for her giant pumpkin to roll right into it, where it stays until it is made into a delicious soup for all the people.
This story is a fun one to read with little kids, and is easy to get them involved in it with the repetition of Marla exclaiming “Diddle-dee-doo! Oh what shall I do?” every time she adds a new person to her pumpkin rescue efforts.
Full of Fall by April Pulley Sayre
This book features photographs of all the beauties that Fall holds. It highlights the rich, vibrant colors of the changing leaves, describes the sounds and sights of the leaves falling from the trees, and what happens to the leaves as they fall, dry up, and begin to decompose. The photographs capture the textures of nature during this time of year, and show just how beautiful and wonderful Fall is.
Apples and Robins by Lucie Félix
This book is so unique! Rather than traditional illustrations to tell the story, the author uses shapes cut out in the middle of the pages to form pictures. This format helps readers to see that everything around them is made up of shapes, put together to form new shapes and objects. The story is very simple, telling about picking apples and building a bird house for the robin. A storm comes and blows the leaves, apples, and birdhouse out of the tree, and again, uses shapes to rebuild the birdhouse.
This book was so fun to read. The cut out shapes made it engaging and fun to follow!
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Reading is truly one of the best ways to connect with people around you— especially younger kids. It’s a great way to build language skills as well as build relationships and establish traditions. I hope you take some time soon to pick up a good book and share it with someone you care about!
Learning to count is an essential skill for kids to learn, so why not make it fun?! Last November, I created and shared a printable Thanksgiving themed I-Spy page. You can find it here. Since last year’s page was only in color, I thought I’d share a black and white I-Spy printable this year!
These I-Spy/ Find and Count pages are great for early finishers, class parties, fun math activities, or even as a game. Parents can also print them for their kids for long car rides, waiting rooms, quiet time, or to be used to keep kids entertained while the turkey is cooking!
**Printable is free, but is intended for classroom or home/personal use only. It is not to be sold, reposted, or claimed as your own.**
School dress up days— the bane of every parent’s existence. These days range from super simple (I see you, Crazy Sock Day) to wildly outrageous (Dress Like Your Favorite Book Character Day I’m looking at you!). The students love them, the teachers tolerate them, and the parents could do without one more thing to add to the calendar.
Why even have special dress up days? Will crazy hair day teach kids to stay drug free? Probably not. Will they remember the dress up days when they are adults? Again, probably not (unless it was extra cool and memorable). So if they don’t really serve any sort of educational purpose, why have them?
I think the easy answer to that is that dress up days are fun. They bring a silly, creative element to a normal school day, and students thrive on fun and creative. In addition to that, there is usually a “punny” saying that is made up to help students make a connection between the dress up day and the lesson/theme for the day— such as “Team Drug Free!— wear your favorite team’s color or gear!”
This week is “Healthy Choices Week” at my kids’ school, and boy were they excited for the week to start! I started to grumble and mumble about it as soon as I saw the email in my inbox. My feelings changed, though, when I opened the email to find that the dress up days were incredibly easy— still fun— but easy enough that we didn’t need to do any extra planning or creating, and easy enough that little thought or effort has been required of my thinking skills… and that’s a win in my book!
I appreciate when the school staff doesn’t go too overboard with these kinds of days. It truly makes my mornings easier! This week’s dress up days include:
Drug Prevention Monday: Be “RED”y to say no to drugs— wear red
Tasty Tuesday: Add colorful fruits and veggies to your diet— wear the color of your favorite fruit of veggie
Workout Wednesday: Get up and move— wear your favorite workout clothes
Online Safety Thursday: “Hats off to online safety!” — wear your favorite hat
Get Good Sleep Friday: Help your body grow by getting enough sleep— wear your pajamas
These kind of dress up days involve the kinds of things my kids wish they could wear to school more often, especially the hats and pajamas! It makes it easier for them to want to participate when it’s stuff they already have, actually want to wear, and doesn’t cause them any extra attention. There are many students who don’t enjoy participating in dress up days when they involve them going beyond their comfort zones and doing wacky and crazy things.
While dress up days don’t typically serve an “educational” purpose, they do give something fun for students to look forward to and provide them an opportunity to get involved in a school wide community. They may not be for everyone, but that’s ok! What’s your take on dress up days?
Ahh, college: for many, it’s the starting place of living out the American dream. A place where “adulting” truly begins, goals are achieved, and degrees are earned. A place where many young adults go to to really figure out what they want to be when they grow up. Unfortunately, it’s also, for many, a place where debt is incurred. College dreams can quickly come crashing down as students face the reality of ramen noodles, mac & cheese, and plasma donations. The cost of attending college is no joke.
It’s no secret that the cost of tuition has increased over the years, sometimes inflating faster and steeper than the cost of living. This means that student debt is rising, and it’s hard to keep up. The average yearly tuition for college in the 1960s hovered around $250 for a public college. Today, yearly tuition for a public college averages over $10,000. Yikes! Talk about an increase!
Even though the price is steep, colleges are still attracting students who are eager to learn and prepare for their future. Of the thousands of students enrolled in colleges across the country, there is a very small percentage that can pay for their tuition, books, fees, and living expenses from their own bank accounts. Because of this, students must rely on outside sources for funding.
The world of financial aid can be a bit overwhelming to navigate. Today I’ll break it down and explain the different kinds of aid that are available to students who need help paying for college expenses. We’ll group them into two categories: those that require repayment and those that don’t.
Financial Aid- Repayment Required
Loans: A student loan is money borrowed for the purpose of paying for the costs of attending college. Loans must be repaid, and typically include interest. Most student loans do not require payback to begin until after the student has graduated or otherwise stopped attending the college. Many loans meant for students have an option to do income-based repayment plans, where the monthly payment amount is determined by how much money the student is bringing in each month.
Some loans will offer loan forgiveness if the student obtains a job in a specific career and maintains employment for a set period of time, while also making payments toward their loan balance during the duration of the years of work set by their loan terms.
Financial Aid- No Repayment Required
Grants: Grants are most often based on financial need. The most common type of grant is a PELL Grant, offered by the government. Students qualify for this kind of grant if they fill out the necessary forms and are found to have the greatest financial need. There are usually stipulations attached to the grant, such as maintaining a certain GPA, attendance requirements, and so on. Students can apply for federal grants by filling out the FAFSA form that can be found here.
Grants can also come through other government agencies such as Department of Workforce Services, State Offices of Rehabilitation, and Veteran’s Affairs Office of Education and Employment. Funds that come from these agencies are typically reserved for persons with disabilities or some other hardship that would otherwise prevent them from attending school and finding meaningful employment. Funding for tuition through these avenues would need to be obtained via working with a vocational counselor at each specific agency.
Scholarships: This type of financial aid does not have to be repaid, and is awarded to students based on various things. Scholarships can be given for just about anything, as long as there is a supporting person, group, or company that is awarding the funds. For example, our scholarship, the Honors Graduation Build A Better Future Scholarship is awarded to five outstanding high school seniors who design, plan, and execute a project that betters their community. Other scholarships are awarded for athletic prowess, while others are given for academic achievement. Others are awarded for writing an essay about why the number “5” is the best number, having red hair, writing an essay telling which superhero you’d want to change places with for a day and why, creating an award-winning greeting card design, or even writing an essay that makes the judges laugh. Simply put, there are scholarships for every kind of person out there— you just have to be willing to put in the work to find it!
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If college seems out of reach for you because of your financial situation, you may be pleasantly surprised to discover that you qualify for PELL grants, loans, or obscure scholarships. If you are truly committed to making college your reality, don’t be afraid to put in some work and make it happen! You won’t regret it, and the experiences you have and the things you learn will shape you into an amazing person who will do amazing things!
Turkey Day is just a couple of weeks away, and I can hardly believe it! The days leading up to holiday breaks are often filled with excitement— which is fun, but also sometimes translates into extra energy for the kids and extra exhaustion for the teachers (and parents!). Holiday themed activities are always a fun way to engage your students and attempt to wrangle the chaos a bit during those days.
I’ve created a couple of fun word activities you’re welcome to use. These are geared more for upper elementary, but can definitely be used for kids of other ages if they are able to do them! Below you will find a downloadable word scramble as well as a Thanksgiving word making activity.
Print them off and use as a sanity saver on those crazy days, as an activity for the car ride to Thanksgiving dinner, or print them off for the kids to work on while the turkey cooks on Thanksgiving Day! However you choose to use them, have fun!
**Printables are free to download, but may not be sold, reposted, or claimed as your own. For classroom and personal home use only.**
