October Content Ideas
Oh the cliche ways I could write this post. My fingers almost instinctively went with “Here are some scary good content ideas for you.” I think I am going to shy away from those things for this one. I think you get that it’s Halloween and things like scary movie reviews, trick or treat taste tests, or costume guides are things you could do. I also won’t share that you could do a spooky themed show on Halloween nor will I tell you that a simple change to background music may be all you need to do to make your show feel more themed…
I will share the following ideas with you…
10/1 - International Coffee Day
There are a couple of ways you can go here. The easiest and most natural is a coffee taste test. Brew different types of coffee and have students taste them and describe them. This could be a serious piece of you could make it light and have the students us odd adjectives to describe the taste.
The other idea that immediately comes to mind for me is to use the day to promote a local coffee shop. If your school has a coffee shop that’s the easiest but a package about a local roaster would be great. The visuals can be awesome. Don’t believe me - go find some ole Peter McKinnon videos where he was on his coffee kick or watch Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee on Netflix.
10/2 - National Custodian Day
I have always said the easiest way to be successful in business is to take care of the custodian. My custodians always got better gifts than my principals! Sharing that philosophy with your students may be the best way to help them in their careers.
Do a short feature on your custodial staff. Get to know them a little bit. Maybe cover several over the week and make it a larger thing. Use Thursday to kick off the celebration - do a package for your show on Thursday and Friday then do social media stuff for the weekend. Keep people engaged!
10/3 - World Smile Day
Create a quick montage of people smiling around the school for your show open and close.
Opening script:
WELCOME TO THE SHOW. IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW, TODAY IS WORLD SMILE DAY AND WE ARE HAPPY THAT YOU ARE WATCHING. MAKE SURE YOU STAY WITH US THROUGHOUT THE SHOW TO SEE MORE SMILES FROM AROUND CAMPUS.
10/4 - National Taco Day
It’s A Saturday So You Can Crush This On Socials. Feature Local Taco Joints, Ask Students The Best Places To Get Tacos, Etc. This Is A Quick Easy Winner.
10/5 - National Do Something Nice Day
Ask People What’s Something Someone In The School Has Done Nice For Them And Shout Them Out. Share Love On The Socials!
10/6 - National Coaches Day
Coaches Play A Huge Role In The Culture Of The School. Have Coaches On As Guest Talent, Do Features On Coaches Or Do A Man On The Street And Ask “Which Coach Is Most Likely To…” Questions.
10/7 - National Inner Beauty Day
Create a package where students and teacher share their inner monologues and affirmations.
10/8 - National Emergency Nurses Day
Do A Feature About Your Local Hospital And The Emergency Nurses. This Could Be A Great Way To Integrate Your Health Care/Health Sciences Program.
10/9 - World Leif Erikson Day
Work with your history/social studies department to do a profile on Leif Erikson.
10/10 - World Egg Day
It’s taste test time. Work with your culinary or family-consumer sciences department to cook eggs in a variety of ways and do a taste test. Or, have someone teach a lesson on the best way to scramble an egg.
10/11 - National Chess Day
Did you know that you can now learn chess on the DuoLingo app? They treat it just like it’s a language.
Chess is a game that’s intimidating to start. Do a package about a local chess club/player and let students know how they can get started playing.
10/12 - Farmers Day
Feature a local farm/farmer. This is a simple thing that can go a long way. Urban Gardens to massive farms, the things that farmers do often go unseen! Celebrate them.
10/13 - Navy Birthday
There are a ton of things you can do here:
Feature a Navy Vet
Create a package about the history of the Navy
Work with a local recruiter to discuss why someone should join the Navy
10/14 - National Dessert Day
Man On The Street:
What’s the Best Dessert?
Where do you get the best dessert?
Obviously a taste test would work here too.
10/15 - National Grouch Day
Everyone knows the Oscar the Grouch On Sesame Street. Do a feature on Sesame Street. It’s topical and can be evergreen.
10/16 - Dictionary Day
When was the last time a student opened a dictionary? Have teachers share how they used dictionaries in the past.
10/17 - National Pasta Day
Liguini. Rigatonni. Spaghetti…. What’s the difference and why? Work with your culinary department or a local italian spot to do a package about pasta.
10/18 - Alaska Day
Create a package about Alaskan History. Reach out to a program in Alaska and do an interview. Discuss the northern most reaches of the state where the sun never sets or rises depending on the time of year!
10/19 - National New Friends Day
Man On The Street:
Can I be your new best friend?
(make it random. Make it fun.)
10/20 - National Day Of Writing
This is a homerun with your admin. Work with your ELA department to discuss what their students are writing. Showcase classes where writing is essential but not a pathway where people think writing happens a lot. (AV, Science, CTE courses)
10/21 - Back To The Future Day
Show clips from the show. Discuss things like why don’t we have hover boards and why aren’t self tying shoes something everyone has??
Or have students discuss what the world will look like in 40 years.
10/22 - National Make a Dog’s Day Day
Have fun with this one! Create a package about a teacher or student’s dog. Work with the local animal shelter to spotlight a dog that needs to be adopted.
10/23 - National TV Talk Show Host Day
Play up the theme. Have all of your talent present like they are talk show hosts… have them be WAY over the top in the presentation.
10/24 - National Bologna Day
Bologna Sandwiches for everyone. Just have them be in all of the segments and don’t say anything until the end of the show.
10/25 - National Greasy Food Day
Celebrate the greasy food of your community. Do a man on the street and ask students where and what greasy foods they indulge in!
10/26 - National Day Of The Deployed
Work with your local VFW or other armed forces affiliated organization to discuss the impact of someone being deployer.
You may also be able to tie in a student or teacher who has a loved one that is deployed.
10/27 - National Black Cat Day
Talk about the superstitions surrounding black cats.
10/28 - National Chocolate Day
Do a chocolate taste test. Feature milk chocolate, spiced chocolate, etc.
10/29 - It’s Bob Ross’s Birthday
Celebrate the happy trees and the best hairstyle in Televised art classes.
10/30 - National Candy Corn Day
Start the debate on campus… Candy corn: Delicious or Despised?
10/31 - Knock Knock Joke Day
It just seems fitting that the day where we encourage strangers to come to our home and knock on the door that you should celebrate national Knock Knock Joke Day.
I think I did a good job not being to cheesy and giving you the run of the mill October ideas like everyone on your should be in costume on Friday the 31st or you have your students talk about the best places in town to Trick or Treat. And I am glad that I refrained from suggesting that you have students to promos for local pumpkin patches, haunted houses, or Fall Festival.
It’s scary how good I did!
Meet the Author, Tom White
Tom White is the Education and House of Worship Specialist at Amitrace. Tom's role is to help educators build better programs through better training, planning, and equipment. Before joining Amitrace, Tom was the Broadcast Engineer at Grady College of Journalism and Communication at the University of Georgia. Prior to that role, Tom taught at Morgan County High School and Rockdale Career Academy where he and his student produced thousands of live streams for sports, news, and community events. Tom’s program at the Rockdale Career Academy received the NFHS Network Program Of The Year in 2016 and his program at Morgan County High School received the New Program of the Year title in 2018. Tom has been a long time contributor to many publications and is the host of Teaching to The Test Pattern Podcast.
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