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 July August

SEPTEMBER 2025

American Founders’ Month / Constitution Day (Sept. 17) / Celebrate Freedom Week (Sept. 22-26)

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. During Celebrate Freedom Week, Florida social studies classes study the following words from the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

September 11

On September 11, 2001, militants associated with the Islamist extremist group al Qaeda hijacked four airliners and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane was crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed during the attacks, including more than 400 police officers and firefighters and 246 passengers and crew on the four planes. This was the most deadly terrorist attack in U.S. history.

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.

OCTOBER 2025

World Space Week (Oct. 4-10)

World Space Week is an international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition. The United Nations General Assembly declared in 1999 that World Space Week will be held each year from October 4-10. These dates commemorate two events:

– October 4, 1957: Launch of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1
– October 10, 1967: Signing of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.

National Newspaper Week (Oct. 5-11)

The theme of National Newspaper Week 2025 is Embracing Local Journalism for a Better Future.

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 2025

Florida Holocaust Education Week (Nov. 10-14)

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)

America Recycles Day (Nov. 15)

National Native American Heritage Month

DECEMBER 2025

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (Dec. 7)

On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor, a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, “was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces. Just before 8 a.m. on that Sunday morning, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base, where they managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded.

  • Click here to see a PDF of the first three pages of the December 7, 1941 edition of the St. Petersburg Times.
  • Click here for a transcript of the speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt declaring war.

Bill of Rights Day (Dec. 15)

JANUARY 2026

Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Day of Service (Jan. 19)

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. 26-30)

Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! is designed to raise awareness about the importance of reading and to inspire Florida’s students and families to make reading part of their daily routines.

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 2026

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

President’s Day (Feb. 16)

Black History Month

Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month

MARCH 2026

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. 2-6)

Women’s History Month

National Nutrition Month

APRIL 2025

Earth Day (April 22) 

Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah) (Apr. 14)

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.

Financial Literacy Month

National Poetry Month

Alcohol Awareness Month

MAY 2026

Law Day (May 1)

The 2026 Law Day theme is “The Rule of Law and the American Dream.” The rule of law—the idea that no person is above the law—is what ensures the rights of the people to live their lives as freely as possible and to pursue their dreams.

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 TBD)

Asian American and Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander Heritage Month

JUNE 2026

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.”

JULY 2026
Independence Day (July 4)

July 4, 2026 is the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

AUGUST 2026

National Immunization Awareness Month