Public Service Recognition Week (PSRW) is a great time to educate the public about what we as government employees do, why we do it and how well we do it. The main goals of PSRW are to:
- Educate citizens nationwide about the many ways in which government serves the American people
- Improve the perception and confidence of government workers and other public servants, and
- Inspire a new generation of public servants
In past years, the FCC, with the help our dynamic Consumer Affairs & Outreach Division in our Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau has held exhibits on the National Mall alongside various branches of the military, other government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private companies showcasing the quality work done by public employees.
Due to a lack of funding, no doubt a symptom of the current financial hardship our country is experiencing, there will not be a major event held on the National Mall this year. However, the effort to honor and highlight our dedicated, hard-working public servants won’t be diminished. Instead, individual agencies are encouraged to hold events onsite for PSRW.
A variety of activities have been offered in the past in light of PSRW, such as:
- Job Shadowing --which offers opportunities for young people to personally connect with and “shadow” representatives from various agencies throughout the city, inspiring future employees.
- Jobs Day --a great opportunity for various agency representatives to talk about the types of careers offered by their agencies and what job openings they may have available at that time.
This year, PSRW will feature a Public Servant Day with the Washington Nationals. The partnership will offer discounted tickets, which will include admission to a pre-game celebration, for the afternoon game on Sunday, May 1. Also, the partnership has launched a video contest as part of PSRW. The contest encourages students, government employees and others to participate by creating a short video illustrating the value of government employees and/or what our nation would look like without us.The partnership wants contestants to consider the essential services carried out daily by government employees on behalf of the American people and what would happen if we as public servants simply disappeared.
PSRW is a week that allows us to show exactly how hard we work for the American people and how government services make life better for all of us.
We’ll keep you posted on the specific events the FCC will be hosting to honor PSRW.
I hope you can join us for any and all events associated during this special week.
For more information about how you or your organization can participate in Public Service Recognition Week, call (202) 775-9111 or e-mail psrw [at] ourpublicservice [dot] org. Complete program details are also available at PSRW.org.