Well said, Tim. I totally agree.

Originally posted by jurijeka:
I can't see spending one penny more than that for the adults when we are all about the children.

For our group and I think for many, we don't define our group that rigidly at all.

If I were to best describe what I see in the best groups, it's more like: "we're all about making our school a great place for our kids to learn and thrive."

And with that kind of definition, there are lots of expenses (including teacher appreciation -- I'd argue that supporting teachers and fostering an environment where teachers love to work can be great for our kids) that don't go directly to the kids that actually help us reach our mission.

If there's a teacher who doesn't lift a finger for our fundraisers and doesn't attend any of our events, but she's an amazing teacher (her key role) who inspires our kids to learn and runs a great classroom -- I'll take that teacher every day. And if our group can show appreciation for those essential efforts -- awesome.

That's my case.

Honestly, I think that the "it's all about the children" mantra is probably the most mis-used/mis-interpreted phrases in the parent group world. And that misuse leads to a lot of the most common problems we see.

Tim

[ 12-22-2006, 10:02 AM: Message edited by: Rockne ]

I don't understand how everyone can afford to do all these things for the teachers/staff. We work hard and live on a $12,000 budget. That money is for the kids. The teachers don't participate in the fundraisers (promoting or purchasing), they don't come to events and the majority of them don't even acknowledge us unless they need something. We spent $130 and made little goodie bags for every student (700) but we didn't do anything for the teachers/staff. I can't see spending one penny more than that for the adults when we are all about the children.

how about a basket of fruit, like clementines, and throw a bunch of assorted, festive wrapped chocolates in/around/between the fruit? Festive, fun, and relatively inexpensive.. and they can all take what they want!

How about some fun print or brightly colored post it notes or nice pens. One year for our craft event we went to a print shop and got note pad cubes made(they gave them to us really cheap) then we had the kids use sponge stamps and paint to decorate the sides.

Look into buying something from Positive Promotions. We just ordered pen and keychain sets for all 65 teachers and staff for $3.95 each. We never spend that much on gifts but we have about 20 more staff members this year. The pen and keychain say "Committed to Excellence" on them.

Buying cups or mugs from the dollar store and filling them with candy or other treats is also an inexpensive idea.