American Education Week

November 12–18, 2006

Online Toolkit: Saluting School Staff

Following is a list of past activities used for saluting teachers, education support professionals, and substitute educators during American Education Week:

• A local association bought a snack platter for the teachers' room in each school. Cards were sent with the platters to explain the celebration.
  
  
• A local association placed a daily treat or token of appreciation in each mailbox, for example, a keychain along with a note, "Our staff is the key to success."
  
  
• A local association gave each teacher a certificate for a "free lunch."
  
  
• Each member was given a plastic apple filled with mints.
  
  
• School administrators cooked breakfast for staff and handed out travel mugs and lapel pins.
  
  
• Bus drivers received coupons for breakfast at the local bagel shop.
  
  
• Each bus driver was given cookies and "thank-you" cards signed by all the students on their route.
  
  
• American Education Week began with a 7:30 a.m. potluck breakfast in the library. Each teacher received a cupcake with a candle (and a match), along with a bookmark imprinted with this George Bernard Shaw quote: "I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. Life is no brief candle for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."
  
  
• Popcorn was placed in all staff lounges on Friday of American Education Week.
  
  
• A local association gave each teacher a sandwich bag full of little gifts and attached a note that explained the contents: "A penny so you have enough cents to realize what a valuable asset you are; Hugs & Kisses so you remember how much we appreciate you; A lollipop to help you lick your problems; A rubber band to help you hold things together; A piece of gum for stick-to-it-iveness; A pin to help you pinpoint problems and solutions."
  
  
• A basket of pro-public education lapel pins was placed in each teachers' lounge.
  
  
• Junior high students gave Hershey's Hugs & Kisses candies to support staff along with "thank you" notes.
  
  
• A local association kicked off American Education Week early Monday morning with an all-staff breakfast where the Teacher of the Year was announced.
  
  
• A gala banquet honored retired teachers.
  
  
• A local association gave each teacher a blank "thank you" note to forward to someone.
  
  
• A local association, at a special school board recognition program, gave each board member a blue ribbon that read, "Who I am makes a difference."
  
  
• A local association president delivered a box of apples to each school along with a note: "In celebration of American Education Week."
  
  
• A local association bought an apple pie for each teacher and attached the following note that bore the American Education Week logo: "An apple (pie, that is) for the teacher. Thanks for making our schools great."
  
  
• Certified staff on Education Support Professionals Day (Wednesday) did the duties of classified staff.
  
  
• Support staff received Peppermint Patties thanking them for their "involve-mint."
  
  
• Each support staffer was given a gift certificate from a local store.
  
  
• All staff wore suspenders to show "support" for Education Support Professionals on their day.
  
  
• Each staff member was given a "survival kit" that contained an item for every day of the week. The kit included tissue to remind them it's okay to cry, a rubber band to indicate they can be stretched to the limit and still survive, and a playing card to remind them they don't get to choose the cards they're dealt.
  
  
• A local association organized "recognition breakfasts" for teachers and paraprofessionals.
  
  
• A local association provided goodies for all school employees--and special treats for members.
  
  
• Each Education Support Professional member received a carnation.
  
  
• A journalism teacher had her students write an article for the school newspaper on Education Support Professionals. They interviewed staff and distributed M&M's with an attached message: "To us you're Magnificent and Most Appreciated--thanks for all that you do!" 
  
  
• Each school support staffer received an engraved notebook.
  
  
• Bagels and cream cheese were provided for all staff.
  
  
• A local association gave an apple ornament to each member. 
  
  
• The school district gave special recognition to parent volunteers. 
  
  
• All local association members were given Starburst candy and a card: "You are a STAR in the classroom." 
  
  
• Each day, school employees received small gifts in their mailboxes: Examples included business cards, planning calendars, teamwork certificates, multicolored notepads and pencils.
  
  
• Teachers, support staff, administrators and school board members were given note tablets with the inscription: "We're Proud To Be in the Kid Business."
  
  
• A local association gave apple muffins to all staff members -- and to school board members at their regular meeting.
  
  
• Certificates of appreciation were given to each Education Support Professional member.
  
  
• Custodians were given T-shirts proclaiming "We are [school name's] clean thinking people." School secretaries got fruit baskets with notes that read, "Thanks for ripening our days at [school name]." 
  
  
• Paraprofessionals and other support staff got buttons: "Our school is special, thanks to you!"
  
  
• The superintendent recently attended the “Back to School” building representative dinner to offer her thanks for all we do every day.
  
  
• Teachers sent letters of appreciation to the school board about any support staff who had helped them in some way.
  
  
• Over 2,000 teachers honored Education Support Professionals with individual "thank you" notes. There were also special star stickers on a number of these 'thank you' notes that guaranteed the Education Support Professionals would receive a pie of their choice from a local pie shop.
  
  
• A local association sent out Payday candy bars, with a note saying "We have an extra payday for you."
  
  
• Education Support Professionals were presented with stemmed rose buds, with a note "For all you do, this bud’s for you."
  
  
• Students wrote Education Support Professionals letters thanking them for their hard work and expertise. It meant a lot that the children recognized the ESPs' contributions to the school.
  
  
• Poems were distributed to each Education Support Professional member of the local association along with a cover letter of thanks for their service and commitment to the district and community. 
  
  
• Education Support Professionals received a bagel breakfast, along with an Education Support Professional pin and a certificate.
  
  
• A local association purchased travel mugs and sent them to all support staff along with a "thank you" note.
  
  
• At one school during American Education Week, the entire week’s procession of  school substitutes—substitutes for teachers, for bus drivers, for lunchroom workers, instructional assistants, and secretaries—had their photos taken by students and teachers using the school’s digital camera.  Each day new Substitute Educator photos with names were printed and posted at the entrance to the school on a special bulletin board.  Paper matching the bulletin board color was used by students to make a Welcome ______  Substitutes banner, stretching across the entrance hallway.
  
  
• Several elementary schools used the morning intercom announcements during American Education Week to give a warm welcome to the Substitute Educators of the Day, using their names and room numbers. Secondary schools welcomed and thanked Substitute Educators using the printed daily bulletins.
  
  
• For the second annual Substitute Educators Day, local union staff interviewed students about their favorite substitute teachers.  The edited video was shown to the November 2004 local representative assembly. Several Building Representatives spoke movingly afterward about how it brought up memories of when they substituted.
  
  
• The Substitutes Association, a department of the local association, started an annual tradition, an RSVP Celebration Salmon Dinner on the Friday evening of Substitute Educators Day, for honored substitute educators and their "main personal support" guests.  During the first year, attendees stood up and told how long they had been substituting in schools, and what they liked or loved about it. During the second year Dinner, RSVP’s were self-limited to substitute educators who promised to initiate or work on activities or curriculum regarding Substitute Educators or the full range of American Educators and to report back at the Celebration Dinner.