8 Teacher Appreciation Ideas

8 Teacher Appreciation Ideas

Teacher appreciation week just passed but it doesn’t mean you should stop showing your gratitude for teachers.
Below you’ll find 8 ideas for showing your appreciation for teachers year-round because educating future generations is a pretty heroic task.

Send Classroom Supplies 

Most of the time, teachers spend a large part of their modest salary on classroom decorations and supplies for students. Teachers will always appreciate receiving items they don’t have to ask for or buy themselves, so purchasing supplies you know they are in need of is the perfect way to say “thank you.” 

Peter Babichenko, Sahara Case

Have Your Child Write a Letter

Receiving handwritten letters in the mail is always a treat for teachers. Take time to sit down with your child to assist them in writing a letter to their teacher thanking them for specific things they learned during the school year. This is a sweet and personalized gesture that is sure to make any teacher’s day!

Kenna Hamm, Texas Adoption Center

Make a Self Care Package 

Teachers spend seven hours a day with 20+ children, teaching them vital information for their future in education. It is a very difficult and selfless job! Sending a teacher a package with gift cards to a nice restaurant, a movie theatre, or a retail store you know they like along with a bath bomb or nice candle will give them the permission they need to take some much needed time for themselves.

Denise Gredler, Best Companies Arizona

Share Their Impact

While teachers appreciate gifts, I think what is most valuable to them is to share the impact they’ve had on you and your children. Ten years from now, they’ll forget about the gift card, but they will remember your story.

Brian Stinson, The PEAK Fleet

Give Gift Cards and Goodie Bags

Gift cards are always a winner! To give them an extra kick, build a custom gift bag around the gift card. Ie: Starbucks gift card… Add a best-selling book, a cozy blanket, and maybe even a cute mug! A gift bag can be a really thoughtful way to express appreciation.

Candace Cotton, Halo Branded Solutions

Get Involved in a Campaign

In an effort to support local restaurants and show appreciation to teachers simultaneously we will be sending lunch to the homes of 100 valley teachers through our Take a Teacher to Lunch program. We will also be sharing videos from our #PasstheApple campaign. For this campaign, people share with us videos telling a story about their favorite teachers.

Lloyd Hopkins, Million Dollar Teacher Project

Recognize with Fair Pay

Increase their pay! COVID-19 has shined an even brighter light on the power of educators in our community. They deserve all the praise and the resources to get the job done, while also living a fulfilling life outside the classroom.

Michelle Diaz, Teammate Experience Manager

Homemade Cards

Our family signs and makes cards for teachers to show our appreciation for all they do. Nothing beats a heartfelt, Crayola crayon enhanced piece of paper that visually expresses the impact a teacher can have on the entire family. Slipping something into a homemade card – like a gift card – is always a nice touch. But, people just appreciate authenticity. Nothing is more authentic than a homemade card from a first-grader.

Brett Farmiloe, Education SEO Company

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Growing the Tree

Million Dollar Teacher Tree was first developed in a classroom by students in a program called, Next Generation Service Corps at Arizona State University in December of 2017. These students were tasked by Lloyd Hopkins, founder of Million Dollar Teacher project with developing a project that can potentially become an integral part in helping MDTP achieve its mission. The group eventually developed the original prototype for Million Dollar Teacher Tree—a cutout dollar sign that would be placed in surrounding businesses near the partner school. The idea was pitched to staff members of MDTP during the last of their class, and the project was picked up by MDTP as a new pilot program for the organization. After many months of planning, the prototype was eventually revamped into what it is today, Million Dollar Teacher Tree.

Golden Apple

These apples are intended to provide any sort of Professional Development which, in turn, gifts them with key knowledge to add to their personal skill-set to better work with their students.

As educators, teachers are constantly looking to continually grow in their profession to not only learn how to better connect with their students, but to also make the learning experience much more exciting.

Suggested donation amount range: $10 – $100

Red Apple

These apples are designed to provide the typical day-to-day items in the classroom. Teachers spend can spend upwards of $1,000 out of pocket to have enough supplies yearlong for their students– to alleviate this, the Red Apples were created.

Everyday school supplies include; pencils, notebooks, crayons, hand sanitizer, etc.

Green Apple

These apples are intended to provide a big-ticket item for the teachers. These supplies are typically something that the teachers can use for more than one school year.

Examples include; a class-set of computers or new furniture for the classroom.

Suggested donation amount: $500+