Teacher Appreciation Week

Teacher Appreciation (TA) Week is a nationally celebrated event where school administration, parents, and students recognize the hard work of teachers and staff by writing notes of gratitude, supplying breakfast or lunch, volunteering, or giving small gifts.  People can get creative and it’s an exciting week for teachers who get showered with affection and treats.  

 

In 2026, the official TA Week is Monday, May 4 to Friday, May 8.  But if you have ever heard of or experienced May as “Maycember,” you know that May can be extremely hectic (often like December) with year-end events such as Field Day, band or strings performances, school fundraisers, and graduation parties, not to mention Mother’s Day.  Maycember is not for the faint of heart! As a parent, you know the struggle is real running from one event to the next. 

 

One school we know decided to move this national weeklong celebration to a week in March. Who says you have to celebrate it in May anyway?  This school is celebrating TA Week March 16 – March 20^th, which happens to fall on St. Patrick’s Day.  Therefore, the Parents Association choose to theme the week: “So lucky to have you.”  With creative minds and some help from ChatGPT, each day has a different theme and activities! 

This particular school is fortunate to have a budget that can cater several lunches from local restaurants.  The Parents Association has also assembled volunteers for a “Pot of Gold Breakfast” with donuts, muffins, and bagels.   On Wednesday, the PA has organized lucky charms – students and parents are asked to bring in a “lucky charm” for their teacher. The lucky charm could be anything from a gift card, a coffee, their favorite candy, or flowers.  Some room parents went above and beyond by collecting “Teacher’s Favorite Things” and creating a sign-up genius so the teachers are getting exactly what they love.  From a breakfast parfait to Mike & Ike’s, these teachers will receive items from their list of favorites from generous parents willing to make the teacher’s day special. 

On Wednesday, the lower school has organized students to write notes to their teachers. They sent home supplies a week earlier with instructions for parents. They’ll bring them to school on Wednesday!  The middle and upper school room parents will stand at a table during break to organize the older students to write quick notes (with a prompt provided) to teachers in exchange for a piece of candy.   (Sometimes bribery is necessary!) 

 

On Friday, there will be Chick-fil-A and a latte station in the teachers’ lounge for the grand finale.  

Other efforts at this school include decorating the teachers’ lounge with a St. Patrick’s Day luck theme and hanging custom banners for teachers.  At More Than Paper, we offer custom teacher banners perfect for acknowledging the hardworking group and wishing them a happy teacher appreciation week. 

This banner can be customized for individual teachers and student names, or it came be made generic. To make generic, just add the name of the school and the word “teacher,” and then from “all” students.  There are 3 different sizes from which to choose, and you can add grommets for a small additional fee to make hanging easy. 

 

We’ve seen all sorts of themes for teacher appreciation week during our years as a parent. The “Lucky to Have You” idea is a cute one but here are some additional themes for teacher appreciation week below.  

• "Eras" / Taylor Swift: Focus on how teachers "never go out of style". Activities can include a friendship bracelet station and handing out "Fearless Educator" awards.
• Wicked / Emerald City: Use a "Defy Gravity" theme inspired by the Wicked movie. Decorate with vibrant greens and "Wickedly Oz-some" banners.
• Hooray for Hollywood: Treat teachers like stars by rolling out a red carpet and assigning them stars on a "Walk of Fame."
• Willy Wonka: Transform the lounge into a candy land with "Golden Ticket" gift surprises and chocolate fountains.
• “Thank you for helping us grow” – focus on a garden theme including seed packets as gifts, and a tree of gratitude with messages from students. Food can be healthy and green to fuel the teachers for their days! 
• Summer / Beach Theme – gift a gift like our school did with engraved tumblers that read: “beachin’ not teachin’” and bring a vacation vibe to the teachers’ lounge. This is a great one if you are doing it in May when summer is near! 
• Spa and Self-Care – focus on pampering gifts and spa like activities. 
• “Nacho Average Teacher” – have a fiesta theme, build your own taco bar, and festive banners around school.
• “Teachers are Superheros” – create superhero-themed decorations. Create comic-book style POW! And BAM! Signs.
• “Out of this world” – a cosmic themed week of treats and activities.  We think this is a really creative one that could be fun! 

Ideas for honoring teachers with small gifts (aka “charms”) are gift cards to Starbucks, Amazon, VISA/Mastercard to treat like cash, grocery stores, Barnes and Noble, or popular local restaurants.  No one needs to break the bank here – a $10 Starbucks gift card is plenty to show appreciation and will really add up if multiple students bring in. 

 

Looking to go beyond a gift card for bringing in a charm?  Here are some more personalized gifts for teachers that we love found at More Than Paper.  These teacher themed folded notecards are personalized with your choice of text and are appreciated by teachers to write notes home to students/families.

These notepads look cute on your desk and are a small gesture to show appreciation. The tear off pad comes with 100 Sheets for quick and easy note writing. 

 

We love these personalized “Best Teacher Ever” notepads 

that come with 300 sheets, now on sale for 10% off. 

We also love these monogrammed apple notepads, sold in sets of 2. Each pad contains 50 sheets and can be personalized with 1 line of text at the bottom and 2 initials at the top. 

Another fun idea is to put a bunch of little things such as notepad, stationery, gift cards, favorite candy, a Starbucks gift card into a personalized tote.  More Than Paper has a huge selection of tote bags, check them all out here.  It would be really cute to do personalized lunch totes, like the one below, and add in a few goodies!

We find that ordering a personalized gift for a teacher shows a lot of thought and that it wasn’t a last-minute grab at the grocery store. Taking the time to order a personalized gift for your teacher shows real intent and will go a long way in making your teachers feel special.  Combine it with a handwritten note from you, as a parent, and a handwritten note from your student and you have a thoughtful way to honor teachers in your life. 

 

Whatever you choose for teacher appreciation week, we hope you find the time to make your teacher feel honored and appreciated.  It doesn’t have to be over the top, we think that a little goes a long way especially when everyone participates. 

 

What teacher appreciation gifts, themes, or activities have you seen that you find special? Share them here with us on our blog or on our Facebook page!  

End of Year Teacher Celebrations

While popular opinion is that 2020 and 2021 felt incredibly long, it seems that by contrast, 2022 is absolutely flying by. Hard to believe that we will wrap up another school year soon and kids will be off to camp and enjoying summer. Before we close the books on the school year, let’s take a moment to honor our teachers.  Here are some ways that you can celebrate them this season! 
 
1.     Organize a luncheon.   Sign Up Genius makes it easy to plan a luncheon with dozens of volunteers. Create a free account at SignUpGenius.com. Choose from hundreds of design templates or upload your own images or even your school logo.  You’ll want to create several “slots” for which people can sign up.   For a luncheon, we suggest creating slots for sandwiches, fruit salad, pasta salad, side dish, green salad, and dessert.  If you are serving a lot of teachers, add multiple slots for each category.  Get creative and choose a theme like Mexican, where you suggest that all the volunteers bring Mexican dishes! 
 
2.     Get their favorites!   There are some great resources for creative ways to ask teacher their “favorites.” We found this great Q & A where our teacher had to answer everything from her favorite scent to her favorite restaurant.  Organize a collection with the other families to donate cash and have one (or two) people shop for her favorites.  By knowing her favorite scent, you can choose an appropriate candle.  By knowing her favorite restaurant, you can score a gift card to that restaurant.  Build a basket of her “favorites” and she’ll feel so honored.  What’s better than getting things that you actually want? 
 
3.     Find a small gift!  A traditional way to honor teachers is a small gift.  We love these “Best Teacher Ever” trinket trays where he can stash paper clips, erasers, gum, candy, earrings or just about anything.  With a bold font and colorful options, this tray looks great on any desk.   

 
Here are 3 other favorite teacher gifts we love:  
 
-       From the Classroom of Personalized Stamp: This personalized stamp is great for teachers to stamp books that belong to them or for notes home to parents.  Customize it to make it for your teacher! 

-       A personalized notepad is a little luxury that your teacher will likely never buy for themselves, but you can score them one that can be used all year-round for notes home to parents/students or quick notes as reminders at their desk.  

-       These “Live, Love, Learn” notepads are priced right and make a good gift to give to a lot of teachers.  If your child is older and has several teachers, consider stocking up on these. Tie with a ribbon and a handwritten note and you have a simple gift that everyone will appreciate. 

 
4.     Write a heartfelt note!  Don’t underestimate the power of a thoughtful, handwritten note to your child’s teacher.  You don’t have to spend a lot of money to make a big impact and show your appreciation. Take out your trusty stationery and start writing. If you are the kind of person that tends to need multiple drafts, you may want to first write your letter out on a piece of scrap paper or even type it.  When the message is perfected, transfer it to your family stationery or personal stationery. The best kinds of notes are ones that are specific.  Instead of blanket sentiments like, “you’re a great teacher”, choose specific instances where the teacher was great.  For example, “Annie really showed improvement this year in her reading. Thank you for taking the time to work with her during novel study. She loved how you read Indian in the Cupboard out loud and had them read it at home. What a great book and way to reinforce their reading comprehension!” 
 
Here are some ideas for stationery for you or for your family on which to write this beautiful note. 
 
-       For personalized stationery, check out our selection of Crane stationery (currently on sale).  We love the simplicity and timeless quality of these designs. 

-       For stationery for your family, we love these simple options by Rytex.  You’ll want a basic stationery with your family’s last name (e.g. The Smith Family) for any occasion. From sympathy notes to a note to your neighbor, a good basic is essential. This is certainly fitting for a nice note to thank your teacher! 

 
You know the mad dash at the end of the year?  The one where you are packing up for camp, trying to remember to thank coaches and teachers, running around to end of year parties, and generally just spread thin?  Avoid that this year and get ahead.  Order your teacher gifts or plan your teacher appreciation now. You’ll be glad you did!  
 
Have tips and tricks on how to honor your teacher to share with us? Share them here or on our blog page. We would love to hear from you! 

Teacher's Gift Ideas

We’ve never appreciated how valuable teachers are more than we do today.  The pandemic threw many of us into a home-schooling reality that we never thought we’d face.  We were stretched thin, our patience was tested, and the pressure was on.  Fortunately, for a majority of American students and their families, children are back in the classroom inperson.  As parents, we couldn’t be more relived and also grateful.  It’s clear that the debt of gratitude we owe these special people – our teachers – is a large one!  

We will always advocate for a heartfelt, thoughtful note to your child’s teacher. As a parent, take a moment to reflect on the year’s ups and downs.  Be specific about the growth that you have seen in your child, what he/she enjoyed, or how he/she overcame a challenge and has flourished. Teachers appreciate knowing what specifically they did to contribute to the growth of their students.  Sometimes a tangible example of how they affected change can be really powerful.  Take a few minutes to really think about the impact this teacher has had on your child’s life and be sure to write it down thoughtfully.   Of course, More Than Paper has plenty of stationery options from which to choose when you are ready to write your note! 

 

We also suggest that your children take a moment to write thank you notes to their teachers. (We have personalized stationery options for kids, too, of course!) This handwritten note from your child can mean the world to the teacher! The same advice applies --- have your child be specific about the school year and what he/she enjoyed in the class.  

 

Beyond a thank you note for teachers, consider small tokens of your appreciation. More Than Paper has a few gift ideas that teachers will find delightful and useful.  All of them are affordably priced, and we love that they are personalized.  Of course, many teachers love the slew of Starbucks cards they receive but these heartfelt, personalized gifts for teacher will really speak volumes.  Here’s a round-up of some of our favorite teacher gifts.  

 

1.     Make a statement with these teacher appreciation banners.  These indoor/outdoor vinyl banners are available in three sizes and are customizable with the teacher’s name and students’ names as well!  The banner is waterproof and comes with adhesive, removable tape for easy hanging.  We also have upgrades available with stakes and grommets for other ways to hang!  Imagine your teacher walking into school with this large, customized vinyl banner displayed for all to see.

 

2.     Teachers are constantly needing to jot down reminders, write notes home to parents, and take notes.  This notepad is an adorable way for your teacher to do all of that.  “From the desk of” personalized notepads make a great teacher’s gift. 

 

3.     If you are a teacher and you don’t have a mug with your name on it with an apple, are you even a teacher? Kidding, of course! If your teacher hasn’t been gifted a fabulous, personalized teacher mug yet – consider these ones by Pen and Hand.  They’ve been a top seller of ours for years! And in addition to personalizing the mug with the teacher’s name, you get to choose the hairstyle, hair color and skin tone to make the stick figure character in the teacher’s likeness. What fun! For added sweetness, fill the mug with candy, wrap in cellophane and tie with a ribbon. 

4.     Consider a stylish and handy personalized clipboard when choosing a year-end teacher gift. We love all of our clipboard options but especially this design.  This is a fun and functional gift that we love. 

 

5.     Another great idea is a personalized bookmark for your teacher! From your English teacher to your librarian, these personalized bookmarks for teacher are a great gift for the end of the year. 

 

 

 

Hard to believe how fast this year is flying by.  We hope you’ll consider these unique ways to honor teachers. Teachers spend many waking hours with our children and have the power to shape their minds, their personalities, and the course of their life.  We appreciate and thank all the teachers!