Yesterday while driving my son to his school, we started talking about favorite people. I asked him who his favorite person was. Without a hitch he said “It is Mom”. Then I asked who his next favorite person was? I have to confess that the answer I got was unexpected. I thought that he would say Dad or name one of his best friends. But his answer was Ms. Smith – his teacher. I asked him why. He said “Because she is there with him every day. She is always talking to him, tells him stories & she is always answering his questions. He kept going on and on…
That was when I realized that not only is she one of his most favorite persons, but she is also the most influential person in his life. At that point it hit me that I have not thanked her enough for what she does for my son.
So I started looking for ways and opportunities where I could say thank you. And guess what I have plenty of those coming up because next month we have Teacher Appreciation Week coming up. I did some research and found out that there are many ways I could say thank you to the teachers. I have listed the top 5 ways that
- Be Thankful: Know in your heart that the teachers are special. Teachers play the most important role in shaping the future of our children and in turn the future of our nation. When you have that realization, it will show everywhere in your behavior.
- Nominate A Teacher: Local organizations like PRO Martial Arts have an initiative where you thank your child’s teacher by writing a thank you note. As part of that you will also nominate a teacher to win prizes worth $1000. The teacher with most nominations will win the grand prize. But that’s not all. In addition to the grand prize, PRO Martial Arts will also chose 10 additional teachers randomly and give them gifts during teacher appreciation week. You can nominate the teacher here: PRO Martial Arts-Nominate A Teacher. When you nominate a teacher, you will also be eligible to win $500 in prizes for your family.
- Volunteer at the school during the Teacher Appreciation Week events. Read school’s or the PTA’s newsletter about these events and volunteer. A great thing about volunteering is that you will get to spend quality time with the teachers and thank them in person.
- Gift card: For the important jobs that they do, we all know that the teachers should be compensated far more than they are. Go ahead and chip in. Give your child’s teacher a gift card. The amount is not really relevant. Contribute what you can. The teachers will be glad that you did.
- Write: Write why you are thankful to the teachers. Teachers will get many TY notes from their students. But not enough from the parents. Take a few minutes to do that. TY notes from parents have a special place in Teacher’s heart. Now that you have thanked your child’s parent, think about finding your favorite childhood teacher and see if you can thank them after many years. I bet that you will make their day when then find a letter in their mailbox with a heartfelt thank you from a mind that they shaped many many years ago.
These are just some of the ways to thank the teachers. We would love to hear how you are planning to thank the teacher. Tell us about it!