Join Us in Celebrating this Year’s Graduates on Facebook

This is a bittersweet time for the Class of 2020. As students head toward graduation, it’s not the day they might have imagined — no processions, no diploma handoffs, no parties. They are commencing at a time of great uncertainty. But graduating is a tremendous achievement, and worth pausing to celebrate even in these circumstances.

So, May 15 at 11 a.m. PST/2 p.m. EST, Facebook will broadcast a National Graduation Celebration called #Graduation2020: Facebook and Instagram Celebrate the Class of 2020. During this live broadcast, a commencement address will be given by Oprah Winfrey. The ceremony will acknowledge high school and college graduating classes in every state across the country. Many celebrities, including Awkwafina, Jennifer Garner, Lil Nas X, Simone Biles, and more, will share words of wisdom for the class of 2020. Miley Cyrus will do a special performance of her hit song, “The Climb.”

If you would like your graduates to be acknowledged on this broadcast, submit a video or pictures using this portal by May 4. Facebook plans to acknowledge all schools who have a submission.

As a PTA, you can submit your own video or you can work with your parents, teachers, students and administration to submit one joint application with multiple videos. Use National PTA’s Teacher Appreciation Week posters for graduates and Zoom virtual meeting backgrounds to make your video extra special! Check them out at PTA.org/ThankATeacher.

Here is how you can participate:

1. Record A Congratulatory Message For Your Graduating Class

This option is perfect for anyone to do! For example:

“Hi, I am <NAME> and I am a teacher at Plymouth North High School in Plymouth, Massachusetts. I want to give a special shout out to our 2020 graduating class. Congratulations on this huge achievement, I’m so proud of you. Go Eagles!”

The video should be approximately 15 seconds in length. Be creative, stand out and show your school spirit!

 2. Cap & Gown Videos

This option is great for students! Coordinate with a group of your friends (your athletic teams, cheer squad, choir team, chess team) and safely record a video of your cap toss with your fellow graduates via a video service like Facebook Messenger or Zoom. For example:

“We are the Marina High School Cheerleaders from Huntington Beach, California – Go Vikings!”

Then toss your cap or your pom-poms. Don’t limit yourself! Be creative, unique and stand out.

The video should be approximately 15 seconds in length. Keep in mind there should be no music, no profanity and no branded logos outside of your school colors.

3. Thank You Videos

This option is perfect for PTAs!

Thank your favorite teacher, principal, faculty members, mentor or parent for getting you here, to graduation. Be sincere and heartfelt in your thank yous.  Make it count and start off by saying who you are and what school you are from.

The video should be approximately 15 seconds in length. Keep in mind there should be no music, no profanity and no branded logos outside of your school colors.

4. School Spirit Photos

Perfect for anyone, especially if you’re on a time crunch!

Just send in photos of yourself and pre-quarantine photos of your team/schoolmates in your school colors, jerseys and hats.  Be creative and show your school spirit!

5. Record a Congratulatory Message for Your Graduating Senior

This option is perfect for very proud parents!

Share how proud you and your family are of your graduating senior and why. Show their photo in the video if they are not there with you OR have them seated next to you if they are.  Show them your love and support.

The video should be approximately 30 seconds in length. Keep in mind there should be no music, no profanity and no branded logos outside of your school colors.

This year’s graduation will be different than other years, and no doubt memorable because of it. We’re proud of our graduates for all they have achieved—congratulations to the Class of 2020!


Alyssa Montchal is a manager of programs and partnerships for National PTA.

Ten Questions to Help You Start the Conversation

Social media plays a big role in teens’ lives today. It’s where they connect with friends and family, celebrate major milestones, share everyday moments, and discover new passions and interests.

As parents, we want our children to connect, share and have fun through social media, and at the same time, stay safe. An important way to help ensure this is by having proactive, open and ongoing conversations with children around digital safety and setting rules together for technology use. 

Instagram, a top social media platform among teens, partnered with social media and education expert Ana Homayoun, M.A., P.P.S., author of Social Media Wellness, to create a set of 10 questions you can use to guide a conversation with your teen about Instagram. The intention is that you use these questions to learn more about how your teen is using Instagram and to ensure they’re using the app in a positive way.

  1. What do you like about Instagram?
  2. What do you wish I knew about Instagram?
  3. What are the top five Instagram accounts that you enjoy following?
  4. What are some things you think about before you post something on Instagram?
  5. If you have multiple Instagram accounts, what do you share in each account?
  6. How do likes and comments affect how you feel about a post?
  7. Do you know your followers? (If your teen has a private account, ask them how they decide who follows them.) What do you do when someone you don’t know tries to contact you via direct message?
  8. How do you feel about the amount of time you spend online?
  9. Have you ever felt uncomfortable with something you saw or an experience you had online?
  10. What would you do if you saw someone being bullied on Instagram? (Do you know about the reporting tools and the offensive comment filter on Instagram?)

National PTA has also collaborated with Instagram to create a guide for parents and guardians to help teens use social media safely and responsibly. The guide includes basics of the app, a description of the safety tools, plus a discussion guide for how to have an open conversation with teens about Instagram. It also focuses on three ways to control teen’s Instagram experience, including privacy, interactions and time on the platform.

Download the parent’s guide at PTA.org/InstagramResources and start the conversation today!