Generally, our School Council is okay with holding the traditional breakfast and potluck lunch and festivities. The feeling seems to be to not mess with tradition. The challenge..... is to find ways to involve the 520 plus students. If you have any neat ideas that worked at your school, I would love to hear them.
Thanks in advance."
Please, email your comments/suggestions of assistance and they will be sent to this member and included on this page.
"I just wanted to let you know about one thing that we did for the teachers from the children that went over really well.
We hung a piece of chart paper on each door with the title "2,4,6,8 who do we appreciate - Mrs. ?"
The students wrote a comment about the teacher and signed their name. We did this for all the school staff.
A parent volunteer went in the classroom, kicked out the teacher and did the task with the students.
Some were done at recesses (such as the librarian).
In some cases supply teachers fit in the task the week before.
To generate ideas we typed an idea and sent it home so they could be prepared and get the job done quickly.
A few kindergarten students were pulled out and 'interviewed'.
The grade 1 teacher gave it as a class assignment so helped them out!"
"I helped organize the activities for the Staff/Teacher Appreciation Week at (school) for many years. Home & School decided they would like to have something every day during Valentine Week. We would bring this up for discussion at a previous meeting to get new ideas and ask for parents to volunteer whether that day or with some baking/cooking. If we didn't get enough food donations required then we would purchase the items needed. The teachers and staff looked forward to each day, wondering what was in store for them.
Here are some ideas:
Monday - home-baked muffins and free coffee
Tuesday - an apple in each teacher/staff member's mail box. A heart, cut out of construction paper, was tied to each stem with a message written on them, such as, "We appreciate you", "Thank you", etc.
Wednesday - A Tea Trolley would visit each classroom providing juice, water, tea, coffee and baked goods. We would either have baggies of cinnamon hearts to leave with each teacher or a $1.00 Tim Hortons gift certificate. We would start around 1:30 p.m. The teachers LOVED this day the best!
Thursday - selection of bagels and cream cheeses
Friday - a hot luncheon - The most popular one was lasagna (meat and veggie), garlic bread, caesar salad, and dessert provided by Pizza Vera served in a cafeteria style with volunteers serving. We have also had 6 foot subs from Angelos, another year we had parents make a variety of sandwiches along with meatballs, salads, desserts, etc. These were done in buffet style.
We would make signs to put around the school thanking our teachers and have bouquets of flowers and balloons in the staffroom. Sometimes we wouldhave draws for prizes.
The teachers and staff were always so appreciative and would send us notes showing their appreciation. Hope these ideas help."
"This is one of (school's) favourite events. Last year we transformed the staff lounge into a tropical paradise, complete with palm tree, leis, Elvis Blue Hawaii music and a sandbox for everyone to step in. We made a big smorgasboard of ice cream sundae treats. Homemade strawberry sauce, chocolate sauce, fresh cut pineapple, cherries and every other topping you could imagine. Two years ago we had a 50's malt shop and we were all in 50's garb and served ice cream floats and sundaes. This year we are planning a continental breakfast in Paris.
Of course it would be impossible to include 520 students, but we make it known that the whole event is from the students and the PTO.
The teachers really enjoy this yearly event and to us, they deserve it.
This year we will also be planning a custodian appreciation event as well. The plans for this aren't set yet. Our custodians work very hard and deserve the recognition.
I hope that this information helps a little!"
"The Home and School/School Council sponsors different things throughout Teacher Appreciation week - we arrange for food to be brought in/catered for lunch one day, we have chocolates delivered to the staff room another day, flowers/plants another day and finally, we get a couple of massage therapists to come in over one lunch hour to do neck and feet massages for the teachers. We also encourage parents/students to write personal handwritten notes to their teachers thanking them for the excellent work that they do."
