Friday Finds--Have you Thanked a Teacher Today?

This week marked Teacher Appreciation Week at The Reporter's School (which also happens to be the school I work in).  She has been incredibly blessed with a wonderful teacher and instructional assistant this year and we wanted to let them know just how much we appreciate everything they have done for her!  I had this grand plan to create and assemble Teacher Appreciation Gifts over a long weekend or break.  Then when Teacher Appreciation Week rolled around, I would just have to "grab a gift" out of the craft nook each day and not have to scramble like a crazy person to gather supplies and wrapping materials at the last minute. . .  yeah. . . didn't happen.  BUT, thanks to the World Wide Web, the ideas cataloged on Pinterest and a little creativity of our own, we were able to put together a fun week's worth of goodies for The Reporter's teachers and it didn't take a ton of planning, time, or money!

So, here ya go. . . OUR five, fun Friday Finds to show our teachers some love. . .

We started our gifting on Monday with a pot of fresh basil and a note that read, "Thank you for helping me grow!"  I just typed the note up on the computer, punched holes on each end with a skewer, threaded the note onto the skewer and inserted the end of the bamboo skewer into the soil.  Simple, thoughtful, and didn't break the bank (Pots were $1.48 each, although I probably had extras in my garage that we could have painted if I had planned ahead.  Plants were $3.50.)

Tuesday's treat was a seasonal favorite--strawberries!!  In our house, we make a point to only buy strawberries in season, and the anticipation of the first pint that enters our house grows with each passing day!  I knew The Reporter would be excited to share her favorite springtime treat with her teachers.  This cute sign was a perfect addition to these little red jewels! (Total cost: the berries--whatever the going rate is in your area! The printable was FREE!)

On Wednesday, we were practical, once again!  Note pads and pens for both The Reporter's teachers and The Little Guy's Playschool teachers!  Cute, inexpensive notepads are often found in the dollar bin in big box stores.  I really should stock up and keep them on hand for quick gifts!  We typed up a note that read, "Take Note--I love having you as my teacher!" and tied it to each bag filled with a notepad and pen.  (Total cost: $.50-$1 per note pad and a pack of pens-$2.50-that I split among the bags)

Wednesday evening, we were busy in the kitchen baking to prepare our treats for Thursday!  Homemade Choc-oat-chip cookies were baked, cooled and packaged along with this cute tag for delivery before a class trip on Thursday! (Total cost: who knows?  I had all the ingredients on hand and the printable was FREE!  You could also skip the kitchen work and attach the tag to a bag of your favorite store-purchased cookies!)

Oh, Friday!  At last!  The Reporter and I threw around several cute ideas for a bigger Friday gift.  Finally, we settled on this one. . .

We have a local diner named "The Blue Ribbon".  It happens to be about 2 miles from our school and is a local Friday night favorite, as well as a great place to go for lunch on the occasional Teacher Workday.  Instead of purchasing a gift certificate, we decided to gift them with lunch delivered to school and a chance to eat in peace (Duty-free)!  Since I am a school employee, it won't be tough to cover lunch duty for them and I know first-hand how nice it is to just take a break and close the door to your room while you eat lunch without children present! (Total cost: 2 lunches! and 2 forks :))

There you have it!  A whole week of fun for us AND our teachers!

Did I post this to look like supermom?  Nope.  Not at all.  I posted to show you how simple, inexpensive gifts can brighten a deserving teacher's day!  So what if you missed the "official" Teacher Appreciation week?  Random acts of kindness are loved at any time!  Our teachers need it, really, to keep them going through the last few weeks of school.  So if it is a gift you choose to send, a handwritten note of gratitude, or a picture your child draws to share their love, take a minute to thank a teacher.  

Where would we be without them?

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to all of my Teacher Friends and to all of the teachers that shaped my life over the past 35 years. . .