Reward Students With A Movie Night After Test Week

The Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) is approaching. How do you reward your students at school after everything all of the paperwork is put away, and your students need to be congratulated for a job well done? Sure, you can give out certificates, free pizza or host classroom parties.

But we all know hard-working kids (and their teachers and parents) want and deserve a smidge more creativity.

How about hosting a free, family-friendly movie for all of the students and their family and friends?

Okay, don’t freak out. We are obviously not suggesting buying movie theater tickets to hand out to each student. A cost-effective (and let’s face it, fun) method to reward students after the CRCT is hosting a special outdoor movie event.

We may be a little biased, because we have an amazing time putting together these special events. Just picture it: the smells of fresh air and popcorn intermingling. Laughter and joyful banter among the attendees. The hushed anticipation right before the movie begins.

It’s a perfect night.

Not only will the students appreciate a nice movie under the stars after testing, parents and the school’s community will have a blast, too. Cool, right? It’s an entirely different way to celebrate the completion of CRCT testing.

At a recent elementary school indoor movie event, our client took advantage of a scavenger hunt game to increase concession stand sales. An example announcement: “Who wants some free popcorn? The first person to bring an item with the school’s name wins a box of popcorn.” The game generated interest in concessions without sounding super sales-y.

Our client loved it! “The popcorn machine was a hit,” they later told us. “It was busy for two hours and always a line! It’s easy to operate as well. (You) did a great job playing music before the movie started and had a neat game for kids to win free candy.”

Here are more tips to host a successful event:

1) Find family-friendly sponsors who would love experiential marketing of this type. Our events can begin when there is still ambient light, so sponsorship information is clearly visible on our movie screens. It also means ample time for folks to settle in and enjoy themselves before the screening begins.

2) Make this a rewarding experience for everyone. Find an area with enough space for folks to bring bean bags, blankets or chairs.

3) Some advanced planning is certainly required. And, of course, you have to get the word out! Present flyers at school or for students to take home. Use your school announcement system in advance of testing so students know they have something special to look forward to after testing is completed.

But don’t start sweating in search of an event planner or committee just yet. That’s where we come in.

Southern Outdoor Cinema provides all audio/visual services, including a bright projector that rivals a theater experience with its crisp, cinema sounds and colorful images.

Movie license? We have that taken care of. Marketing materials? We are so on it. The mission of SOC is to make an outdoor movie event as stress-free and, of course, fun as possible.

But why spend all of this time patting ourselves on the back? Here’s what our “scavenger hunt” school had to say about their movie night.

“The accessibility of your company on the phone was great. I called several times before the event to ask questions. Then, once your company arrived, they took care of everything. The quality of the screen and the sound system was great! The microphone was an added bonus so we could make announcements.”