Monthly Topics

Each month during the school year, FPES provides its member newspapers with educational resources for important holidays and observances.

September October November December January February March April May June


SEPTEMBER 2023

American Founders’ Month / Constitution Day (Sept. 17) / Celebrate Freedom Week (Sept. 26-30)

American Founders’ Month encourages Florida public schools to coordinate instruction at all grade levels related to the nation’s founders. Constitution Day commemorates the formation and signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787. Celebrate Freedom Week commemorates the founding principles of our nation.

September 11

This date marks the anniversary of the tragic events that took place in America on September 11, 2001.

National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

About 1 in 6 children in the United States has obesity. National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month provides a chance to learn ways to promote healthy growth in children and prevent obesity.

National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15)

Hispanic Heritage Month begins each year on September 15, the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Mexico, Chile and Belize also celebrate their independence days during this period and Columbus Day (Día de la Raza) is October 12.


OCTOBER 2023

National Newspaper Week (Oct. 1-7)

The theme of National Newspaper Week 2023 is: In Print. Online. For You.

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Breast cancer is the second-most common kind of cancer in American women. About one in eight women born today in the United States will get breast cancer.

National Substance Abuse Prevention Month / Red Ribbon Week

National Substance Abuse Prevention Month is an annual observance focused on raising the public awareness and encouraging communities to take action and get involved to prevent substance use. Each year families, communities, and organizations across the country come together to raise awareness about the importance of substance use prevention and the importance of investing in prevention.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

National Fire Prevention Month


NOVEMBER 2023

Florida Holocaust Education Week (Nov. 6-10)

Holocaust Education Week in Florida is held annually the second week in November which coincides with the anniversary of Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938.

Veterans Day (Nov. 11)

Florida Recycles Week (Nov. 13-17)

National Native American Heritage Month

DECEMBER 2023

Bill of Rights Day (Dec. 15)


JANUARY 2024

Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Day of Service (Jan. 15)

This American federal holiday celebrating Dr. King’s contribution to the United States and to humankind is observed on the third Monday of each January.

Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! (Jan. 22-26)

The Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! 2024 theme is “Believe in ‘Yourshelf’ – Building Resiliency through Reading.”

International Holocaust Remembrance Day (Jan. 27)

International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorates the millions of victims of the Nazi regime and promotes Holocaust education. The date marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of the Nazi concentration and extermination camps, by Soviet troops in Poland on Jan. 27, 1945.

National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

Human trafficking is modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Florida is one of the top three human trafficking destinations in the United States.


FEBRUARY 2024

Florida Severe Weather Awareness Week (Feb. 5-9) / Statewide Tornado Drill (Feb. TBD)

President’s Day (Feb. 19)

Black History Month

Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month


MARCH 2024

Read Across America Day (Mar. 2)

Each year, National Read Across America Day is celebrated on or near March 2nd, the birthday of Dr. Seuss.

Newspaper in Education Week (Mar. 4-8)

Women’s History Month

National Nutrition Month


APRIL 2024

Earth Day (April 22) 

 Financial Literacy Month

National Poetry Month

Alcohol Awareness Month


MAY 2024

Law Day (May 1)

The Law Day 2024 theme is “Voices of Democracy.”

World Press Freedom Day (May 3)

May 3 is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day. It is an opportunity to: celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom; assess the state of press freedom throughout the world; defend the media from attacks on their independence; and pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

National Hurricane Preparedness Week (May 1-7)

Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah) (May 5-6)

The internationally recognized date for Holocaust Remembrance Day corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Asian American and Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander Heritage Month

JUNE 2024

Juneteenth (June 19)

Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) commemorates the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas and the last enslaved African Americans learned they were free. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. On June 17, 2021, it officially became a federal holiday.

Civic Season (June 19 – July 4)

Civic Season unites our oldest federal holiday with our newest. July 4th commemorates the moment a new nation was born, based on ideals that each generation since has worked to bring to life: freedom, equality, justice and opportunity. Juneteenth, celebrated just a few weeks earlier, reminds us of the struggles and hard-won victories in our ongoing journey to form a “more perfect union.”