There’s an anxious buzz and an excitement in the air. The number of days left of the school year is in the single digits, but the busyness level is as high as ever.

In a small town, the school is the lifeblood of the community. Time and time again, as communities in rural America lose their school, the towns begin to dwindle. Schools must fight to maintain their reputation and enrollment numbers, often this relies on recruiting high quality teachers and coaching high quality sports teams.

I am a huge fan of high school sports and athletics, and will never downplay their positive impacts on young men and women. In addition, sports are often the most visible aspect of a school.

There are fewer opportunities to showcase academic achievements to a community, but open house night is one of my favorites, and in fact, I think it is one of the most important.

Open House Night gives an entire community the opportunity to engage with high school students, to check out their achievements, watch them present and perform, and maybe even just a chance to revisit the building in which they have so many memories.

Here are eight key events for visitors to participate in for a successful high school Open House Night.

• Free will donation bake sale/sampling of FACs and Culinary Arts products
• Samplings of student written and edited school newspapers/newsletters/articles
• Performances by student actors and speech writers
• Performances by student solo musicians
• Demonstrations by science students
• Viewing of student artwork
• “All About Me” posters of individual student successes, improvements, and future plans
• Time for teachers and students to visit with parents and community members

Teachers, students, administrators and staff work hard all year long. It is exciting and worth while to make Open House Night as large of a celebration of student and school successes as possible. What else do you think makes for a successful Open House? Leave your response in the comment section below!