Following the lead of the military, schools are now honoring graduates with customized challenge coins. Leaders in education are using these coins to recognize the special moments in their students’ lives. Because of the many design options available, the coin can be designed to feature a unique image that ignites school pride and instills fond memories.

Which Schools Are Using Challenge Coins?

Schools all around the world are giving out challenge coins to their students. Administrators, deans, and heads of training corps bestow these tokens of appreciation and honor to graduates for special occasions. The academic institutions sharing these challenge coins with their students include:

• High schools
• Colleges and universities
• The Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (jROTC)
• The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC)

All of these schools realize that there is no better way to recognize the accomplishments of students than with a customized coin that they can cherish forever.

When Should I Hand Out Challenge Coins in School?

Adults understand how important it is to encourage a sense of pride in young people for their accomplishments. Rewards for accomplishing one’s goals build a young person’s sense of self-worth. That’s why challenge coins are the perfect award to recognize a student’s achievements. A number of schools have distributed them during the following occasions:

• Graduations
• Sporting events such as winning state championship tournaments
• Academic accomplishments such as making honor roll or achieving valedictorian
• Positive behavior
• Helping in the community

By recognizing these kinds of special moments, we reinforce in young people the behavior we strive for as good citizens. These special challenge coins allow students to hold on to those fleeting moments in time that mean so much to them. The designs can be imprinted on the face of the coin with a unique insignia the student will associate with the school.

What are The Most Common Designs?

There are countless kinds of designs that schools can impress on the face of a challenge coin to commemorate an important event. Some of the most popular kinds of designs include:

• School logo
• Student’s name
• Graduation Year
• Class slogan
• School mascot

All of these are great options to choose from when designing your school’s challenge coin. Of course, the great thing about challenge coins is they can be customized in countless ways. The important thing to keep in mind when creating challenge coins for your students is to ensure that they are unique. You can do this by using images like mascots and school slogans on the face of the coin.

It’s the accomplishments we achieve in our youth that sets us on the path for success in adulthood. Knowing how important these achievements are is why we honor students with tokens like challenge coins. For this very reason, high schools, colleges, JROTC, and ROTC programs are handing them out to students. Whether it’s a graduation ceremony or the winning of a major sporting event, the designs that you put on these coins will forever impact a young person’s life. So whatever design you choose, make it meaningful and make it unique.

If you are ready to order challenge coins for this year’s graduates, visit our website or give us a call at 1-800-818-3229, and one of our representatives will help you through the process.

Challenge coins are growing increasingly popular in schools in Canada and the United States. This growing interest in such coins is largely due to the fact that school officials and teachers would like something more tangible to motivate students, and also show their pride and appreciation. Even President Obama has seen the potential in using challenge coins in school, as he used them to honor students at a high school in Virginia.

Challenge coins have a long tradition in the United States military. They have been handed out to soldiers since the First World War. The coins were used as a way to create a sense of unity between service men and women. They are now being used, decades later, to promote the building of friendships and expression of pride between students in schools.

By simply engraving the school mascot on to the face of the coin, teachers and administrators have a gift that they can share with students. These tokens can be kept as mementos by students, reminding them of their experiences and accomplishments during their time in school. A schoolteacher in Ontario is believed to have started the use of challenge coins in public schools in 2008.

Chris Boyer ran a successful challenge coin business after school hours. He thought he had designed coins for just about everything: military service people, police officers, firemen etc. Then one day it “struck” him. Why not make a coin for his students? He heard about an organization called the Challenge Coin Association. Created by ex-Iraq War veteran, Jesse Medford, the CCA is the first official challenge coin organization for hobbyists and makers. The teacher contacted Medford and asked him if he could design a coin with the school’s mascot, a cartoonish looking falcon named ‘Frankie the Mascot.’

Not long after Medford and Boyer spoke, the coins were introduced in school, and students in Franklin Public Schools were filling their pockets with them. Similar to the military tradition, students were challenging one another to present their school coins. If a student couldn’t produce the coin upon request, they would have to do a push-up or give the person a candy bar. It became a fun way for students to interact, and teachers used the coins as a way to reward positive behavior. Since their introduction in Franklin Public Schools, challenge coins have made their way into schools in the United States, where they are now given to students as a token of honor.

The President visited a high school in Virginia to give a speech to the student body on the first day of classes. The school’s student body president had the honor of introducing the President to his classmates. After the speech, The President shook the young man’s hand and then handed him a presidential challenge coin. The coin’s face had the number 44 on it signifying Barack Obama being the 44th president of the United States. The President’s use of the coin is another example of how challenge coins are beginning to become a symbol of honor for students.

Whether it’s the President of United States or a public school teacher in Ontario, challenge coins are being given to students all over the world. They offer a fun way to show school pride, and are a tangible way to honor a special moment in a young person’s academic life. Challenge Coins Limited can easily come up with a design focused on representing your school. Browse our gallery for a few examples of coins we have minted previously.