Celebration Toolkit

There are many ways to celebrate public servants in your community during Public Service Recognition Week (PSRW). Ideas range from sending letters to public employees to organizing a celebration showcasing the work of government agencies in your local area. To help you get started, we put together our top 10 celebration suggestions. For our full list of suggestions, please download the complete How to Celebrate PSRW Guide here.

We hope this online toolkit will help you observe PSRW in a simple, fun, low-cost way while honoring public employees that work so diligently on our behalf every day. We’ve included resources to help facilitate your participation in PSRW whether you from an agency coordinator, Federal Executive Board (FEB), military base or school. In particular, they are ideas and tools to help you reach out to your community, educators and the media.

 

1. Send a message to public servants you know. Honor public servants in your community with a note of thanks through a letter writing or email campaign. If you are a public servant, don’t forget to post PSRW posters in your workplace.

 

2. Request a proclamation. They are a simple way to help bring attention to PSRW. To help you request one from your governor, mayor, city council or another official, we have put together a sample proclamation and request letter that you can download below. Once you receive your proclamation, you can arrange for it to be presented at a public event.

Word File Sample Proclamation Request Letter
Word File Sample Proclamation Language — for Mayors
Word File Sample Proclamation Language — for Governors

 

3. Speak to local schools and civic groups. PSRW is a great opportunity to send public employees to schools, colleges and civic groups to educate the audience about the federal workforce and inspire the next generation to public service. We encourage you to make this program part of their week-long celebration. To help you share your federal story, use this template to get started.

Word File Sample Hometown Heroes E-Mail Templates

 

4. Prepare short, vignette stories about outstanding employees in your agency and ask your local newspaper to consider running each day during PSRW. These profiles are a great way to highlight the work of public servants.


Word File Sample Federal Player Profile

 

5. Write a Letter to the Editor or Op-Ed. Did you know the opinion page is one of the most popular pages in the newspaper? One of the ways you can get your message out to your community is through a Letter to the Editor or an Op-Ed. Here are some hints and a sample to help you get started.

Word File Helpful Hints
Word File Sample Op-ed

 

6. Ask local radio stations top play Public Service Advertisements (PSAs) that honor federal employees. PSAs are short, informational items that usually announce events or provide educational information of interest to the public. They should be sent to radio stations at least one month ahead of time.

Word File Sample Radio PSA

 

7. Reach out to the community calendars in your area and ask them to list your PSRW events that are open to the public and invite your local press. Ask when the deadlines are and if you can submit photos with your listing. We have included a sample calendar listing and news release that will help provide background information on the event and the public employees who are being honored. Be sure the date, time and location are clearly listed, along with contact information.

Word File Sample Calendar Listing
Word File Sample Awards Release

 

8. Develop a list of “Facts and Figures” on the surprising and unique contributions of your organization. You can use these as talking points in your media interviews, in your news articles and agency newsletters. To help you get started, check out our samples.

Word File Sample Did You Know Facts
Word File Sample 50 Ways Government Works for Us Facts

 

9. Use a lesson plan from the PSRW Teacher's Guide. Designed for middle-school and high-school teachers of civics, social studies and American government, the Teacher’s Guide contains learning projects, games and discussion ideas to get students thinking and talking about government and the responsibilities inherent in citizenship.

PDF File PSRW Teacher's Guide

 

10. Organize an exhibit event. During the week-long celebration, many government agencies will have exhibits or information fairs. These exhibits are an interactive opportunity for multiple government agencies to inform and demonstrate to the public the services that they provide. To help you launch a successful event, here are some helpful tips:

Word File Helpful Tips