Veteran’s Day is a time to honor all who have served in the U.S. armed forces.

As a school social media manager, you can absolutely express this sentiment with a nice graphic and simple caption – but if you’re looking to get a little more creative, here are six ideas from schools across the country!

1. Share activities happening in your schools
   This is the easiest idea! Simply share the activities happening in your schools on Veterans Day.

   This post reached more than 34,000 people and had a lot of positive engagement.

   

   Some creative photos with a thoughtful “thank you” goes a long way, like this post on Reading School District’s page:

   

2. Ask veterans to comment with their branch of military and/or years served
   Engagement is key on social media, so a great post for Veterans Day is to simply ask your followers to comment with their branch of military and years served. I wouldn’t limit it to just your alumni – open it up to all followers.

   You could just use text like this in a simple text box with a colored background:

   “Today we honor our Veterans. Share the branch of the military you serve(d) with.”

   

   If you’re not sure how to create these background graphics right in Facebook, this blog includes a tutorial.

3. Share student Artwork & Projects
   Many classroom activities include projects and artwork that teach the meaning of Veterans Day. Why not share that with your community? Here is a simple slideshow that a school put together using Google Slides.

   

   And this was another post from the same district, who had to get creative with a virtual thank you because they couldn’t be in-person to say thank you.

   

4. Reach out to current staff who have served or are serving
   You likely have staff in your building that have served in the military or are currently enlisted. Veteran’s Day is a great opportunity to celebrate their service! You can create simple graphics that include the person’s photo and some facts about them, like these examples.
   
   
5. Video of staff, parents, or community members who have served
   Photos are great for honoring your community veterans, but a video could be even more impactful. Spring Lake Park Schools in Minnesota invested in this great video in 2020. Check it out!

   And this video from Hannibal Central School District in New York is incredible. I love how it starts out with a voiceover from students!

   

6. Broadcast the Veterans Day Program
   Whether you go live during your in-person event or assemble a pre-recorded program that you share with your followers on Veterans Day, this is the final example we have for honoring this day on social media for your school. We had to go virtual for many programs in 2020 – and 2021 might be the same. Here are a few examples:

   

   

Which of these six ideas are you going to use for your school? Remember, you don’t have to do them all! Pick the one that fits your culture (and your personal workload) the best, enlist help where possible, save additional ideas for next year, and then let your friends at #SocialSchool4EDU know how it goes!