In 2010, I was finishing my first full year of teaching third grade, and I knew I needed something fun and exciting for the end of the school year — I’m talking the very last minutes of the last school day. I decided End of the Year Awards were going to be the best way to end the year, but as I started searching, the options for End of the Year Awards were minimal. Most only had 20-30 awards, which meant I either had to repeat awards for my students or try to fit students into award categories that didn’t actually describe them.

So, I decided to make my own. Since then, I’ve been adding more awards to my end of the year awards collection almost every single year, and now I have almost 150 options. I’m not exaggerating when I say there truly is one for EVERY student.

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Make the end of the year meaningful and easy. These best-selling End of the Year Awards Editable Awards with Autofill 150 End of Year Awards include 150 unique, positive awards so every student is celebrated—and with autofill + editable options, you can personalize your entire class in minutes.

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Why I Hand Out End of the Year Awards in My Classroom

Although I’ve done it a few different ways based on schedules, I always try to save my end of the year awards presentations for the very last moments we share together, because it feels like the most meaningful way to close out our year. Unpopular opinion: I’ve never loved counting down to the end of the year. I’d much rather spend those final minutes celebrating everything we shared and accomplished than counting down to it being over.

After months of hard work, growth, and shared experiences, it’s a chance to pause and truly celebrate each student—not just for their academics, but for their unique personality, strengths, and the role they played in making our classroom a community. It ends our year on a high note, where every child feels seen, valued, and proud of who they are.

How I Present End of the Year Awards

During the last hour or so of the school year, I gather my students together and tell them how lucky I feel to have been their teacher. We take a few minutes to talk about all the time we spent together and our favorite things about the year. Then, I tell them it’s my turn to share my favorite things about having each of them in class. I tell the students that there are 100 awards I could give each student, but for these certificates, I carefully selected just one thing about each student that I loved and will always remember. Then, I present each award by sharing a short anecdote about why I chose it for that student.

I love pairing this sweet moment with the beautiful book What the Road Said by Cleo Wade (affiliate link) because its message about courage, self-worth, and moving forward perfectly captures what I want my students to carry with them from our year together. It helps frame the awards as more than just a fun tradition—they become a heartfelt sendoff into whatever comes next!

Selecting and Printing End of the Year Awards

This part is easier than you might think! Even though there are 150 awards, I always find it fairly quick to start inputting student names next to their strengths. I have created the file to allow for either autofill or Google Slides.

Using Autofill to create your End of the Year Awards is SUPER easy, and you can select exactly which pages to print.

Oftentimes, I will use the Google Slides version, which is also incredibly simple. I copy and paste my name and Date, insert student names into the certificates, delete the slides I didn’t use, and print!

Of course, you can also just print them and write the names in for an extra personal touch!

I can usually finish selecting awards, inputting names, and printing in less than 15-20 minutes.

I love how these awards print in color, but I know it’s a hot commodity in schools. I have also printed them in black and white on colored paper, and they look great

Unique End of the Year Award Examples for Students

Over the years, I’ve compiled 150 different end of the year awards for my students. Recently, I spent some time categorizing them and ended up with the following groups of awards:

• Academic Awards (25 Awards)
• Character & Behavior Awards (65 Awards)
• Sports, Music, Art, and Hobbies Awards (27 Awards)
• Trendy Awards (14 Awards)
• Nature and Outdoors Awards (6 Awards)
• Future __________ Awards (6 Awards)

Here are just a FEW of the 150 award options included so that you can get an idea of just how many there are!

• Media Maker
• Master Builder
• Amazing Artist
• Headed to Hollywood
• Computer Whiz
• 3D Printer Pro
• Creative Coder
• AI Explorer
• The Animal Advocate
• Mindful Manners
• The Caring Classmate
• Empathy Expert
• The Spirit of Congeniality
• The Kind Heart Award
• Phenomenal Friend
• Friendly Neighbor / Neighbour
• The Friendly Upstander
• Listening Ear
• Happy Helper
• Stellar Sharing
• Hug Bug
• Passionate Peer
• Attitude is Everything
• Ray of Sunshine
• Super Smiler
• Life of the Party
• Rockstar
• Out of My Shell
• Quiet Achiever
• Morning Person
• Cooperative Classmate
• Right Hand Helper
• Taskmaster
• Guiding Light
• Leader of the Pack
• Goal Getter
• Morning Meeting Master
• Marvelous Messenger
• Wonderful Worker
• All Around All-Star
• Soaring Toward Success
• Stick to It Award
• Brilliant Behavior
• Growth Mindset Guru
• The Resilient Risk-Taker
• Goal Getter
• Problem Solver
• Pro Puzzler
• Creative Kid
• Curiosity Champion
• Ingenious Innovator
• Storytelling Star
• The Creative Classmate
• The Inventor
• The Deep Thinker
• The “Let Me Tell You All About It” Award
• Bracelet Bestie
• K-Pop Icon
• Fabulous Fidget Collector
• Slang Specialist
• Squishy Superstar
• Certified 6-7 Legend
• Stylin’ and Smilin’
• Hype Squad MVP
• Main Character Energy
• Water Bottle Collector
• Emoji Expert
• Trendsetter
• Tinky Trinket Trendsetter
• Pop-It Power
• Bookworm
• Graphic Novel Guru
• Text Evidence Expert

Looking for even more End of the Year Ideas?

Browse all of my End of the Year Activities and Lessons!