Medal Ceremony Wisdom: A few DOs and DON’Ts for you.

DOs

• DO REMEMBER THAT EVERYONE receives a certificate with the total miles run/walked written in and signed by the Site head Coach/es. Even if they walked 1 mile, they are recognized for making the effort.
• DO Make sure that everyone wears their 100 Mile Club® t-shirt the day of the ceremony. It is spectacularly unifying to have everyone in their tees, and it LOOKS really cool! Take pictures!
• DO REMEMBER THAT only those who run/walk 100 miles will receive a medal. Everyone knows this going in, so it is no surprise. Trust me when I say that the medal is a huge motivator, and so is the recognition by one’s peers. The will work for it, and if they don’t quite make it, you celebrate anyway.
• DO Have FUN!

DON'Ts

For what it’s worth, I really do not like having to outline the don’ts. It seems so…negative. That said, some folks need them and that is ok. We want every child’s efforts to be celebrated and respected, and if that means peppering in a few DON’Ts, I’m fine with that.

At your Medal Ceremonies, PLEASE:

• DON’T sort your kids from lowest to highest miles. Think about how you would feel if you were the first one called. First, having to stand up while everyone after you has more miles than you would be torturous. Second, perhaps those first-called-low-mile-total kids did their personal best, and being sorted from low to high miles would negate that personal best. Finally, everyone KNOWS who did more miles than whom, who worked hard, who is new, who got hurt or sick halfway through the year…these kids have become a team. Ranking is divisive and unnecessary. Be careful when recognizing the child who ran “the most” miles. It can be done, and has and is being done really well in a lot of places, but be aware of over-celebration of certain things.
• DON’T make excuses or shy away from Medal Ceremonies if nobody made their 100. It is difficult to stand up in front of parents and your students when nobody in your class made their 100 miles. The kids know if they worked hard at 100 Mile Club®, and you know in your heart whether or not you were a helpful, encouraging coach, if you allowed them the time to complete their miles, and if you made the program what it should be. If a lot of kids did not make their 100 miles, you need to refrain from blaming kids for being lazy or making excuses. Nobody DOESN’T want to make it. As a group, talk about what you can do to do better next year, even if you are going to have a new class and they are going to have a new teacher. There is no time for judging or making excuses.
• DON’T just recognize the kids who did 100 miles and ignore the rest. This is just sad and wrong and will make kids feel like their best was not good enough. Do something to recognize everyone…it doesn’t have to be monumental, it just has to be something. For many of our kids, this certificate is the only one they will receive at year’s end.
• DON’T put certificates and medals in cubbies to just send home. If you do that, you are wasting money and time. These kids work and wait all year for their Medal Ceremony. Leaving out that final step in the 100 Mile Club® process will destroy the soul of the program. DO SOMETHING.

In sum, what you need to know is that The 100 Mile Club® Medal Ceremony something that should be meaningful to you, your colleagues, and your participants. You are creating tradition with this, so plan well and make sure to always have FUN!! Visit our website at www.100mileclub.com for video snippets of different medal ceremonies around the country.