In addition to our "Student of the Month" wherein each teacher in each grade picks one child a month to be honored, we also have a "Good Citizen Award" again one kid from each class chosen by the teacher. The Elks organization in our town sponsors this and they send a representative to school and we have an assembly to present them with a certificate.
One thing the children seem to like alot, is that we try to put their pictures in the local paper. All students of the Month are invited to our general meetings and then a picture is taken and submitted. They become mini celebrities for that month. It is working quite well for us. Good Luck

How about a community service related award, or school spirit contests? Maybe there is someone who is doing alot of tutoring or helping other students in general. Ask the student population if there has been a student with a positive influence making a difference at their school, have a ballot box to collect names and see what you get. Have spirit contests throughout the year with crazy themes or goals. Just some ideas.

My high school would have a luncheon for the students each semester and invite their parents and grandparents. I grew up in a very small farm community in Iowa but this lunch was HUGE! We had it catered and this was sponsored by our Veterns (VFW) since we didn't have a PTO. Good Luck with this!

I will be president of my son's middle school PTO next year and am looking for ideas for student recognition. This is a board position that has not been very successful the last couple of years, and I'd like to work on it.
These are 6th, 7th and 8th graders with a student population of about 1100. They already have honor roll recognition and each six weeks, each teacher picks one student for an additional award. I need something different.
Thanks so much for any suggestions.