We have a very small school, 40 students or so, from K-8. We had qualified parents come in for the afternoon one day during Teacher's Appreciation Week and we dismissed the teachers to a long lunch followed by a 15 minute massage at a local spa. It timed out perfectly that they arrived refreshed by the last bell and then went home for the evening. Our teachers, all female, loved the pampering!
We catered sub sandwiches, chip and drinks. A sub shop provided those, and the manager went to Kroger and bought larger bags of chips and 2 liters to save us money.
In addition to this, we gave out the very large candy bars, 1 per staff member (approx 100 @ $1 each) and had a drawing for 6 (25) gift cards from various stores and restaurants. The total cost was about $700.
We took over half of the library and teachers came and went for lunch so they had a chance to get away from the normal routine.
They really appreciated this and it was done by one person from the sub shop and myself.
On one day during teacher appreciation week, we're going to round up numerous volunteers, and offer to wash the teachers' cars during the school day. Very low cost, but very appreciative.
To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.
We are also doing a "Hollywood" theme this year and plan on having a red carpet for the teachers to walk with a "Maxwell Walk of Fame". We have plans to create film reels and have students' pics in the holes with a quote as to why they believe their teacher is a star. We also have themed foods (which parents bring in) for the teachers everyday of that week in our multipurpose room, which is decorated to the theme of the week. Each day we hold a drawing for a gift that was donated by a local business and make sure that we have enough for each teacher to receive one. Along with that the we send out a survey earlier in the year to find out the teachers' fave things. And we end each day by hand delivering a small, well thought out gift to each of the teachers in their classrooms. Some of the gifts are handmade since we have several crafty moms in our organization and some are donated or purchased. We do all of this on a $500 budget. This also includes our staff appreciation day which is held the Friday before teacher appreciation begins. On that day, we have parents bring in a food and give away raffle items and small tokens of our appreciation. Of course, we send the survey and the list of themes of the day to the parents the week before and most send in small gifts according to the theme on each day. This year we have massage therapists donating time, limo companies donating limo time, and a few spas donating gift baskets and gift certificates for treatments as well.
We are SO blessed to have such outstanding staff at our local elementary school, and we try to do something special for each day of Staff Appreciation Week. (By the way, we are careful to make it STAFF Appreciation, so it includes the secretary, nurse, teachers' aides, cafeteria workers, and custodians, too.)
One thing that has been really fun and well received is a car wash. We ask staff members to drop off their car keys in the office, and then parents wash the cars during the school day. We decide which day to do the car wash based on the forecast for the week.
At times we've had students who will be graduating from that building write letters about their favorite memories at the school and what they loved about their years there.
Another time a local massage therapist came in to give 5 minute chair massages to staff members. (She was trying to build her clientele, and she didn't charge us.)
One year we surprised the staff by having parents send letters to the editor of the community newspaper to express their appreciation for the teachers and other staff members. The teachers were totally surprised and overwhelmed by this public acknowledgement of their hard work. If you are going to do this, be sure to check the newspaper's deadline for letters.
The highlight of our staff appreciation week is always the Boxed Luncheon on Friday of Staff Appreciation Week. The luncheon is held at a home that is very close to the school building. Parents make creative, themed lunches and drop them off the evening before or early in the day. The lunches are displayed without any names attached (with meatless lunches in a designated area), and staff members have a great time selecting the one they want. Examples: a flowerpot containing a salad lunch and some gardening gloves and seed packets; a fishing tackle box with a tuna sandwich, goldfish crackers, and gummy worms; a Cinco de Mayo lunch, etc. Having the luncheon at a nearby house allows the staff members to get out of the staff lounge on a beautiful day in early May. The staff members say that this is always the highlight of the year for them.
