Use bulletin boards to feature high-achieving students or athletes. For instance, create a bulletin board to introduce students to the student or athlete of the month. Include information about the student's favorite school subjects, academic achievements, extra-curricular activities and hobbies and personal interests. Use photographs of the student competing in a spelling bee, rehearsing for the debate club or practicing after school with football teammates. Bulletin boards publicly recognize students for their achievements, and they may also motivate other students to pursue excellence in the classroom and beyond.
Use bulletin boards to showcase students, teachers or school groups that make the local news. For instance, display newspaper clippings from the sports pages that report on the school's athletic victories. Post the newspaper publication of honor roll lists or other stories about students or teachers. A bulletin board calls attention to newsworthy stories.
Get students involved in politics, public policy or school policy issues by using bulletin boards to share students' thoughts and opinions. Post a question of interest to secondary students. For instance, ask "Should students wear school uniforms?" or "What would you ask the president of the United States?" Display students' answers to the posted question underneath. At the bottom of the bulletin board, post the question for the following week and encourage students to submit a response in time for it to be posted.
Invite teachers and students to share their personal book recommendations. Ask teachers and students to identify the title and author of the book and to provide a sentence or two selling the book to prospective readers. Display responses on the bulletin board so that others can read ideas. For holidays or seasons, feature books accordingly. For example, display book recommendations for romance stories in February or Christmas stories in December.