Tomorrow begins my 2024-2025 recruiting campaign, where I will jump into all of the freshman social studies classes and try to sell them the best course in high school. In my district, anyone can take APHG, any year, any level. Anyone who wants to be there – I will teach them. This year, I teach four sections of APHG, and nothing would be better than FIVE.

Pro Tips I’ve learned to get more students registered:

• Tell them there are field trips (if even you have them do independent study ones during the holiday breaks).
• I don’t use language that keeps them from taking the class, i.e., “This is going to be hard…”   “There is a lot of homework…”   “There is a college-level class, and you are expected…”
• I try to use language that encourages them to take the course, i.e., “This class is about YOU.” “You will learn so much about people and the world around you.” “This is a challenging class, but it is one of the most rewarding you will take in high school.” “You are going to become a better writer with my help.”
• Show a video of graduated APHG students who are now in college or the workplace. Have them give testimonials about what they remember about the course and how it has helped them in the real world. I’ve collected these clips over the years and made a 5-7 minute video that I use to campaign.
• Have students immediately scan a QR of a more detailed course description or flyer at the start of my elevator pitch. I don’t read it to them, but they can refer back to it independently after I’ve left the classroom and the recruiting video has ended.

If you are like me and need to recruit students to sign up for APHG, I’ve found that “decent” marketing goes a long way. If you want some campaign posters to hang around the building, feel free to make a copy of my 2024 APHG recruiting campaign images. I included one set of images with text and the other without, in case you want to add your own text directly onto the images using Google Slides. I save it as a PDF and then print it.

May the numbers be ever in your favor.

H.I.