Remember the adage, “If you can read this, thank a teacher?” Well, as we all know, there are hundreds of things, including teaching us to read, that we should thank today’s teachers for. And during Teacher Appreciation Week we have the opportunity to amplify the thanks we should offer teachers every single day. Of course, teachers are happy to receive a gift card or a new coffee mug to acknowledge their hard work, but there are many other ways that you can thank them during this special week and all year round. Here are some ideas:
- Offer Teacher Appreciation printables.
Develop downloadable offerings of bookmarks, worksheets, and other resources with a teacher appreciation theme. Maybe look for great quotes to include on them, like these featured on WeAreTeachers, and make the materials evergreen so that they can be used in schools year round – not just during this special week. You could even include a thank you card for kids to color and complete to thank their teachers.
- Launch an email campaign that just says “thanks.”
Reach out to thousands of teachers with an email campaign that simply says, “thank you for all you do.” No sales pitch, no special offer – just thanks! It will likely be an email that makes them smile when they open it!
- Volunteer in the schools in your community.
Check in at your neighborhood school and find out what kind of volunteer help teachers need. They may be looking for people to read to students, creative folks to help with bulletin boards, or someone to help with grading student worksheets. By contributing an hour or two of your time, you are lightening the load for the entire school community while making teachers, assistants, and everyone feel valued and appreciated (and it will make you feel great as well). Kick off your volunteering during Teacher Appreciation Week and then continue it all year long.
- Clean up and refresh a teachers’ lounge.
If time for ongoing volunteering just won’t fit in your schedule, find a team from work and take on the one-time volunteer project of cleaning and refreshing the teachers’ lounge at a nearby school. First, be sure to ask the teachers in the school what they would like their lounge to look like and then get creative. Together you can transform a tired teachers’ lounge into a cozy place of respite for tired teachers. Someone on your team might even have some beautiful flowers from their garden to freshen up the lounge. When you’re done, maybe sponsor a lunch or coffee break to unveil the new space to teachers.
- Write teachers thank you notes.
Whether it is your child’s teacher, a teacher you had when you were in school, or a local teacher you see featured on the news for doing something amazing, acknowledge them! Regularly and in writing! Yes, during Teacher Appreciation Week, but you could also set a personal – or company – goal to acknowledge one teacher per week or month. Who doesn’t love to get personal mail and when a teacher realizes it is a thank you note for all they do you might just remind them why they are in the profession. Sometimes simple things can make a big difference!
Our dedicated teachers offer our students and communities so much and we all know these past few years presented hurdles that they had likely never dreamed they would face. We should all take the time to remind teachers how much we appreciate them!
