Day by Day

It’s national teacher appreciation week and although this is the last day today, I wanted to share the great idea that my son’s Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) had because it is both easy and creative. Maybe some of you can share it with your own PTAs or PTOs. His PTO designated a different gift idea for each day of the week and asked parents to do as little or as much as they wanted.

Monday was chocolate day. My son has six teachers so we bought six jumbo Hershey bars, one for each of them. Tuesday was school supply day. I personally think Post–it Notes are very useful, so I bought a few packs in bright colors for each teacher.

Wednesday was flower day. I asked my son if he wanted to get flowers for all his teachers or just the female ones. He has three male teachers and three female ones. He chose to get flowers just for the ladies. I bought a bunch of roses and wrapped a stem for each teacher in a wet paper towel covered in aluminum foil to keep the water from getting out.

Thursday was a day for handmade items, like thank you notes or homemade goodies. My son wanted me to bake something for his teachers, but I told him it must come from him, not me. He doesn’t cook very often so I bought him a mix for blueberry muffins and he baked them.

Today is the last day and it’s fruit day, so we got his teachers his favorite kind of apple—Gala.

What a week!  When I was a teacher, I would have loved getting these kinds of things.

I’ve been working at a school the past few months, not teaching, but still around teachers. This week at the school they’ve gotten all kinds of sweet goodies in the morning and catered lunches as well. The pulled pork they had today smelled so good that I mentioned that to a teacher and she said, “I feel so appreciated.”

It doesn’t take much to make a teacher feel appreciated. They are giving people to start with so they appreciate everything they are given.

I also got my share of hugs today from the kids. I worse a velour shirt that’s very soft and all the kids were coming up to give me a hug or touch my shirt. It’s amazing how nice a hug from a first grader feels. It just brightens your whole day. 

So, if your son or daughter didn’t do anything for Teacher Appreciation Week this week, it’s not too late to make a teacher feel appreciated. Have them write a little note to their teacher or make them some cookies, but most importantly, have them deliver them with a hug (or for the older ones, at least a smile).

As they say, if you can read this, thank a teacher. They deserve your appreciation this week and all year long!