College Signing Day is very special to Reach Higher. In spring 2014, our team planned the first national College Signing Day. Former First Lady Michelle Obama chose to celebrate in San Antonio, Texas, because the mayor and the entire city had been formally celebrating their graduating seniors for years. We wanted to lift up the great work in the city and also set an example for others to follow in the future.
So many of you took up the call to action. In 2019, more than 3,000 schools and communities hosted College Signing Day parties. This year, Reach Higher will continue to celebrate College Signing Day to recognize students making the commitment to pursue higher education. Especially this year, amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, we have the responsibility and the joy to celebrate students’ accomplishments. We hope that even more people take the time to join us, even if it looks and feels a little different than in the past. Check out the recording from our recent webinar here.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama at College Signing Day 2018 at Temple University. Photo Credit: Chuck Kennedy
While we have heard the many calls for colleges and universities to change their deadlines for students to make final enrollment decisions, Reach Higher will still celebrate College Signing Day on May 1, much like we have done in the past. However, that won’t be our only day to celebrate! What we usually do on one day a year we will do on multiple days this year, and we encourage you to join us. Over the next few weeks, we will share with you all the fun ways we will recognize and cheer on students. So, if your students have already committed to a school, awesome! We will celebrate. If they wait until June 1 to make the decision, great! We will celebrate then. And if they decide on any day in between, we still want to celebrate! No matter when your students decide, share those commitments with us using #CollegeSigningDay on social media.
As always, we want you to celebrate College Signing Day in your communities, too. We know that this year will be different as we will likely still exercise some level of social distancing in May and June. We will share new tools with you on our website at bettermakeroom.org/collegesigningday to help you celebrate students virtually and on social media. Download our updated toolkit which gives you ideas for hosting a College Signing Day from home. Be sure to follow our social media channels (@ReachHigher and @BetterMakeRoom) and check out #CollegeSigningDay for updates and new tools that you can use in the coming weeks to recognize students.
I look forward to College Signing Day every year. It represents the culmination of K-12 education and a new big step into adulthood. This year more than ever we need a reason to celebrate. And I can’t wait to see all the ways that you do.
Join us tomorrow, April 21 at 3:00 p.m., ET/12:00 p.m., PT for our #SigningDayChat on Twitter.