November National Days

With the arrival of November, we are welcoming the holiday season and what is usually a very busy time in our student salon.  As great as a busy student salon is, we want to make sure that we remember it is still a classroom and we should continue to find ways to bring fun into it all. 

Before we jump into the national days, lets consider the opportunity we have to give back to our community.  November is a time for giving and being thankful. 

Start by having a food drive.  For the first 3 weeks of November ask clients to bring in food and receive a discount on services or perhaps a $5.00 Haircut.  Check with your local food bank to determine what types of food should be collected. Then, donate the food to your local food bank the weekend before Thanksgiving to help those that are less fortunate.

If your school and state allow it, consider a field trip for students.  Go and volunteer at a local Food Bank. 

Spend some time each day asking students what it is they are thankful for.  This would be a great way to wrap up each day and simply ask what happened today that they are grateful for.  Another easy way is to simply periodically ask students what they are grateful for as you work the student salon.  This helps students stay in touch with all the great things in their life through the crazy busyness of the holiday season.

Now for the National Days.  There are a lot this month.  As always, don’t feel you have to do all of them.  Pick 2 or 3 your students would have the most fun with and enjoy!

November 1^st – National Brush Day.  I wasn’t sure what this was when I saw it, so I had to look it up.  Turns out it is National Brush Your Teeth Day and a day to focus on replacing your toothbrush. Well this really doesn’t have anything to do with us, so let’s make National Brush Day, National Hairbrush Day! Have the students take some time and go through their stations, make sure all their brushes are in good shape and toss out the ones that need to be tossed. 

November 3^rd – Daylight Savings Time Ends.  Start by making sure all the students know about the clock change, and make sure all the schools’ clocks are turned back.  Next, get ready for the week.  This means that it is going to start getting darker an hour early and late afternoons may become very low on energy.  Have a stack of activities planned for late afternoon slumps to help students stay engaged and energized through the end of the day.

November 4^th – Job Action Day.  Take some time today and work with all students that are within a few hundred hours of graduation.  Have they started their job search?  How is it going?  If they haven’t started, ask when they plan to.  Are there any job opportunities that they are excited about?  Do they have their resume in place?  Have they practiced their job interviewing skills?  Do they have their portfolio in good shape?  It’s a great day to check in and see where they are.

November 5^th – National Doughnut Day.  Stop at the local bakery and grab a few dozen doughnuts to share with your students.  Nothing starts the day better than surprise doughnuts in the breakroom! 

November 5^th – National Love Your Red Hair Day.  Run a special in the student salon offering a 15% discount on all services to all the natural red heads.

November 10^th – National Vanilla Cupcake Day.  Much like National Doughnut Day, it’s a sweet surprise to arrive after lunch to find cupcakes in the breakroom.  Tie the day into color wheel theory.  Buy plain cupcakes, vanilla frosting and some food color.  Divide students into teams and see which team can create the best color wheel. 

November 11^th – Veterans Day.  Honor the veterans in your community with free haircuts or discounted services in the student salon.

November 13^th – National Chicken Soup for the Soul Day.  I’m always looking for inspiring stories to start the day.  On National Chicken Soup for the Soul Day, ask each student to search the various Chicken Soup for the Soul books and bring in their favorite story to share with the class.

November 13^th – National Educational Support Professionals Day.  Most of the time we all focus either on the educational staff or the students of the school. But the reality is, there is a whole bunch of other people in the school that allow us as educators to really focus on our students.  There are admissions, financial aid, receptionists, janitorial, registrars and so many others that do so much for our schools, we would be lost with out them.  Take today and celebrate all the Support Staff in your school and let them see how much you value them.  Give them a spa day to remember!

November 27^th – National Jukebox Day.  The day before Thanksgiving is generally a very busy student salon day.  Have some fun with National Jukebox Day and keep the place jumping!  Assign students 30-minute slots to man the radio and play whatever songs they want! Of course, have a few rules in place about the type of music allowed for customers. 

November 28^th – Happy Thanksgiving.  Enjoy your family and yummy food and GO COWBOYS!!

November 29^th – Black Friday.  Be sure to offer retail specials for customers out doing their Christmas shopping.  A great bottle of shampoo makes a great stocking stuffer.