As the school year comes to a close, take time to celebrate this past year and your team’s accomplishments! Host a recognition night where you and your team can look back at all that you have achieved. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy – from an awards ceremony to a barbecue – take time to relax and relish in the hard work that has paid off. In our experience the best time to plan for something is between May 20th and June 10th. May to June is a perfect time as students are usually just finishing up with school and getting ready for Summer and what better way than to celebrate the start of Summer with a party. Here are a few ideas to celebrate all your hard work

The best time to prepare for the upcoming year is the Summer! Don’t forget to stay in contact with your team and try to connect with organizations that have year round participation! Our friend, Say What!, is a great year round organization focused on advocacy for youth tobacco prevention. Participants can apply for scholarships and visit summits all while advocating against tobacco usage among youth.

In addition, take the Summer to find your inspiration for the upcoming school year. What goals do you want to focus on? Is there something you didn’t achieve this past year that you really want to do? Whatever it is, set your sights for the next year and make clear goals for your team and how to achieve them. Nine times out of ten your summer group will be your core group year round which makes Summer so important for finding and refocusing your goals for this next school year! We recommend doing this between late May and mid July. Most youth are just starting summer in May and mid July is when activities start again, so take advantage of these two months!