How PTA Members Say Thanks this Teacher Appreciation Week

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Last week, we asked our fans on Facebook what they had up their sleeves for Teacher Appreciation Week. The following is a sampling of their creative and heartfelt responses. Needless to say, a lot of teachers are in for a treat!

Rose Alaniz Palacios: Our staff is treated to daily celebrations the entire week. This year’s theme is “Best Teachers in the World.” Each day of the week will have a specific country with food from that country provided in the lounge, plus there will be a corresponding activity for the kids to do. For example, one day is Italy: That’s Amore. Italian food is served and the students will write “love” notes to the teachers. One day is China: Teachers will have lunch catered from a local Asian restaurant and the students will each write fortunes for the teachers. The final day is Americana and the teachers can enjoy the Fruits of Their Labor: students have the opportunity to bring in a piece of fresh fruit for their teachers that day and American food will be provided in the lounge. Each staff member also has their door or office decorated by the Room Reps and students, revolving around the Best in the World Theme.

Kathie Kitron Green: My favorite day is “Thank You Thursday” – we distribute thank you postcards to students, parents, teachers and staff and collect them for 10 days and then will distribute them on May 9th. The cost to our PTSA is a couple reams of cardstock, the good will it creates…priceless.  Staff loves the notes they get and it builds on itself – when you get a thank you note, you’re more apt to send one out and thank someone else. I LOVE the spirit this creates!

Laura Kelly Bowman: At Green Valley Elementary in Roanoke, VA we’re planning a whole week of surprises for the school staff and our theme is, “You’re Our Heroes”. Today we hung up 425 paper cutouts on our “Hero Wall” in the entrance to the school for the staff to see on Monday. The kids wrote down why they think the staff is heroes on the cutouts, and their sentiments just couldn’t be more poignant and sweet. What a lift it will give to our staff!

Shalin Hassie: I have been doing this for the past few years and it’s always a hit. Each day I will send something different for my son’s teachers, starting out with flowers to keep in the classroom all week, then a basket of sweet & salty snacks, next day a basket full of classroom supplies, then to end the week with a nice personal gift of some sort (coffee/tea gift, spa gift cards, nice blanket/throw, lotion sets, etc…) Attach a little note signed by your child each day for a more personal touch.

Kelly Wadley Duggan: We celebrate our teachers/staff every day that week, but my favorite is “Souper hero Tuesday”. We’ll be bringing in a can of soup to donate to a local food bank in our teacher’s name. Of course, they’ll get yummy cupcakes in the lounge to remind them we know their super power is teaching.

 Theresa Vance Curtis: Today we started the day with a snack of Oreos shaped like apples, candy apples, and their menu for the week in the mailboxes. All of the teachers and staff walked into the school to find their doors decorated as well. Our theme is “You Deserve to Relax” so we have small gifts, events and meals set up for the week to reflect our theme. So far the doors were a big hit!

Tara Bryan Hudgins: Taters for Teachers SPUD Bar on Friday! They loved it last year.

Kathy Barton Goldstein : We give the teachers and all staff little goodies throughout the week and then we have a big luncheon for them on Friday. On luncheon day, we have parent volunteers take over recess duty so the staff can enjoy lunch together!

Pam Trostle: Laurel Elementary PTA hosted Teacher Appreciation Luncheons, as well as providing them with snacks all week long. We collect prizes donated by local businesses for door prize giveaway during their lunch. We also gave a gift for each staff member from PTA. I personally made monogram note cards for my son’s teachers as a thank you gift from our family. We love our teachers!!

Comments

  1. Brenda Martin says:

    Today we held our Teacher and Staff Appreciation Luncheon at our intermediate school! We had a delicious catered lunch with wonderful desserts. Our PTA vice-president found colorful decorations with a western theme. We gathered a few students to help decorate and later to help serve the teachers! Homeroom parents and volunteers covered the teachers’ classes while they ate and enjoyed chatting with colleagues. I have been blessed to serve as the PTA president and we host & finance the event. I covered the office while the school secretary joined in. Filling in these jobs really gives you a closer look at what these teachers and staff members go through. Our district nurse was needed at another school, so while filling in the front office, many students came in with scrapes that I would have to stop what I’m doing, sterilize the scrape, and apply band-aids. I hadn’t thought of our secretary in that role before. I also received a chance to see some of the emotional support children need from the nurse where the scrape might have been small, but the trauma was bigger. When I have covered classes before for other teacher appreciation lunches, I would realize how busy and timed everything is. The children are really moved through a fast paced schedule. Positive feedback from children really makes the experience more joyful! One child made a picture and thank you note for one of our volunteers. While the volunteers were later lunching together, she smiled endlessly as she told me about it and was obviously proud to show it off. I didn’t get to feel even a wee bit jealous, that I didn’t get one this time, because the glow in her smile shared it with me. It’s also so sweet when children smile, learn something from you, or seem to appreciate what you do! But what about the teachers who have to endure “not so” pleasant feedback on a regular basis? What happens if volunteers don’t show up? My appreciation for our teachers, staff and volunteers has increased so much just from volunteering at the schools and seeing even a small view of what they endure! I take my hat off to you all! At the end of our luncheon, we gave them each a small flower filled pot, decorated in our western themed bandana box. Seeing their smiles was such a rewarding experience! Truly, we THANK YOU for What You DO!!!

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