Elementary Teacher Appreciation Ideas

Lunch

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Some families with elementary school children have a hearty and practical tradition to honor teachers. Once a semester, families cook, bake and deliver the goods to school in time for teachers to enjoy a pot-luck buffet at lunchtime. To do this, set up a small committee (two to four people will do). Pick a date and give parents a deadline for dropping off food. Send out an e-mail sign-up sheet to make sure people donate entrees, desserts, salads, sides, drinks and paper plates, cups and utensils. Make sure one or two people are on hand before lunchtime on the day of the event to set up and clean up.

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You don't have to be the craftiest person on the planet to provide a teacher with a classroom keepsake such as a scrapbook or a photo collage. For a collage, recruit parents to offer photos snapped at holiday parties, school concerts and plays. Mount a traditional collage on poster board or an electronic one that the teacher can use as computer wallpaper. A scrapbook can include photos of each child, letters from each child or a picture drawn by each child. It doesn't have to be labor intensive. Putting kids' artwork into plastic protective sleeves and slipping them into a simple binder works fine.

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Create an Academy Awards ceremony at the school. Call everyone to the gym for an assembly, then offer an award --- complete with time in the spotlight --- for each teacher. If an assembly is out of the question, families could do a daily award instead, honoring an individual teacher during daily announcements on a centrally located bulletin board.

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Offer chair massages from a local chiropractor at the school to show appreciation for teachers. Or take a charitable tack: The National Parent Teacher Organization suggests taking up a collection and donating the proceeds to a designated charity in the teacher's name. Or, for the 100th day of school, have kids come up with 100 ways they appreciate their teacher.