Teacher Appreciation: The Final Stretch
Even if you don't have all of your plans worked out, there are plenty of great (and quick) ways to show your teachers you care.
Out there somewhere are parent group leaders who are starting to feel panic set in because they haven’t yet tackled one of the biggest projects of the year: teacher appreciation.
But let’s put some perspective on this: There’s still time until Teacher Appreciation Week begins. It would be a challenge to find a PTO or PTA leader who can’t get a lot done quickly! So push away the panic and check out our teacher appreciation articles where you will find many ideas that easily can be done between now and the start of Teacher Appreciation Week.
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Here are just a few of our many ideas:
1. Host a potluck lunch: Send out an email to parents today and ask them to donate their favorite dish for a teacher’s lunch. This will take some coordinating this week. Set up a drop-off time and location for donations. Purchase paper goods. Ask a local nursery to donate flowers or small plants to decorate the teachers lounge.
2. Create a memory book: Ask the principal if you and a few volunteers can visit classrooms this week. You could each do several in a day. Stop in, ask the teacher to step out in the hall for a moment. Give the children a piece of card stock paper and ask them to write something special about their teacher. Collect the notes and paste them into a scrapbook with photos of students and the classroom.
3. Special breakfast delivery: On one day during Teacher Appreciation Week, purchase fruit, bagels, white lunch bags, and several bouquets of flowers. Place a piece of fruit and a bagel in each bag, one for each teacher. Using tape, attach a single flower from the bouquets to each lunch bag. Display in the teachers lounge or deliver to classrooms.
4. Car wash: Get a few helpers and offer to wash car windows for the teachers. Put a note in each teacher’s mailbox with an attached ribbon. The note can read, “We can clearly see we have the best staff around! If you would like your car windows washed tomorrow, please tie this ribbon to your car antenna.”
5. Little treats: Shop this week for inexpensive gifts that can easily be made special by adding our free gift tag templates. Also, the folks at our sister site, HomeroomMom.com, put together a photo collection of easy-to-make, inexpensive teacher gift ideas that may inspire you.
