WE always invite the staff to our luncheon. We have a luncheon twice a year during conference times so teachers do not feel they have to worry about dinner on evening conference day. We do not buy them any gifts! We send a note to K-2-4 in the fall and 1-3-5 in the spring asking parents to bring in a dish (one classroom, salad, another rolls etc.) We provide the entree. We have started to ask parents to donate coffe, tea, creamer etc. to stock the teachers lunchroom. Once in a while we wil get some donated items for "door" prize type gift. We have talked about doing something for the certain "week" of appreciation but our teachers have preferred this in the past as they actually get an hour to socialize while enjoying a lunch- then they nibble throughout the day- and usually there are enough leftovers that they enjoy dinner too.
Boy this one made me stop and think. We usually do something special for the teachers every year. We also buy something for the secretary on secretaries day. But we never acknowledge all the other people who are an important part of our school. I do agree that pto funds aren't raised to be spent on all the adults at the school but for the betterment of the kids educational experience. We have been very frugal this year with hospitality funds (haven't spent any yet). I do have an idea though...perhaps you could approach the teachers and ask if they could have each student in their class make a card for each specific "extra" person at the school ie: one class makes them for the custodian, another can make it for a lunch mom. My son's classes have been making me cards for years for different things and I have kept every single one. For some reason it means so much more coming from a kid than a grown-up. I think you'd be surprised to know just how much a child might appreciate the lunch mom who always watches out for them or the crossing guard who always has a smile and funny story to tell. So why not let the kids have the chance to tell them directly how much the appreciate them!! You can wrap these special treasures in a nice box with some candy and surprise the recipient!
I think the entire staff should be involved in any of your plans. At our school, the librarian/media specialist works as hard(or harder) as some of the teachers who are biding their time for retirement. All of the people contribute to our children's education. Include everyone.!! It's nice to be important--but its important to be nice.
My response was that we include the entire staff during teacher appreciation week. My opinion is that the entire staff from the principal to the custodian has a hand in educating our children, so they should be recognized and appreciated. We do not buy expensive gifts for our teachers, we merely give them small handmade tokens so it's not a big deal to make enough for everyone. (I don't think PTO money should be spent on personal gifts for teachers; that's not what we raise it for.) We couldn't serve the teachers lunch and breakfast and tell the rest of the staff they're not welcome to share.
This is a repost, so if you responded to this subject previously know that I did not receive your response, so please feel free to re answer my question......
Our PTO is going to soon celebrate teacher appreciation week and have strong feelings it is just that....National Teachers Appreciation Week. Not staff appreceation week which is what many staffers and even our principal think it should be. We are not elitist, but recognize the extra hours and dedication teachers put in for the betterment of all students. My question is how do we pull this off without looking like we are elitist to the rest of the staff (Aides, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, janitors, librarian, ect....secretaries, nurse,...the ground hogs who live on campus.......)who punch their mental time card and are out the door at 3:00 and don't give another thought to the kids. Our teachers go way above and beyond and we want to recognize that on THEIR day (week). It seems to us it waters down their celebration don't you think? How can we do this just for the teachers??
