New to the role of Teacher Appreciation Chair or Staff Appreciation Chair?
You’re going to love all of the ideas and tips shared in this post to help you become the best PTO Teacher Appreciation Chair!
Involve others
Like with everything else in PTO Land, Teacher and Staff Appreciation isn’t a solo gig.
It really does work best to collaborate with others to put on teacher appreciation events.
This position can be really time consuming and overwhelming without help.
Form a committee of other parents who are interested and get planning!
It’ll be amazing what ideas you can come up with when you work collaboratively. Some volunteers are great at coming up with creative ideas, while others excel at pulling off the plan.
When you have a team effort, it’ll be a better experience for everyone!
Stick to budget
This should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyways…
Always be mindful of your allocated budget and don’t overspend!
This isn’t your personal money that you’re spending, so if you’re accustomed to living in a budget-free world, make that adjustment, pronto!
If you do go beyond your budget, know that you’re risking having to pay for it out of your own pocket.
You may not get reimbursed unless there is a provision in your PTO Bylaws and Standing Rules.
Include everyone
The biggest mistake Teacher Appreciation Chairs can make is to only include teachers in their plans.
Schools aren’t run just by teachers.
There’s lots of other people involved to make everything work: Principals, Office Administrators, Counselor, Custodians, Cafeteria Staff, and Lunch Aides are all essential to the school. Not including them in whatever activities you’re doing for Teachers is a mistake.
For one thing, it’s rude and disrespectful.
How would you feel to not be recognized at work with a luncheon when pretty much everyone else is being included? Down right crappy, right?
My mama taught me was to be nice to not just the main players in life, but also the support people that make things happen in the background.
So when I started as a PTA leader, you betcha I was super nice to the Office Secretaries and Custodians.
That’s probably why my favorite School Custodian in the world always greets me with a smile and is always happy to help. He never complains about anything and always goes above and beyond to get whatever I need!
Start including everyone and see how much more supportive everyone at the school will suddenly become of your PTO.
It’s not about the food or treat you’re giving them. It’s about the respect and appreciation they will feel from you and your PTO.
Speaking of food, make sure to provide vegan and gluten free options so that everyone can participate!
Spread out the love
The second biggest mistake Staff Appreciation Chairs can make is to only recognize staff during Teacher Appreciation Week.
The truth is that the school year is long and teachers and staff are working really hard all year!
By the time Teacher Appreciation Week officially rolls around the first full week of May, a lot of teachers are running on fumes.
You can keep up their spirits with little tokens of appreciation throughout the year!
Here are some other great ideas for inexpensive ways to show appreciation to your teachers.
Weave appreciation events throughout the year to really make teachers feel loved and appreciated!
Ask
Not quite sure what your staff would like?
Cut through any uncertainty by going right to the source and asking them what they’d like.
Make it easy by asking your Teacher Rep to poll the teachers or set up a poll using Survey Monkey or Google Forms.
You might be surprised with what they come back with!
One year, I asked my Teacher Rep to do this and the ideas were surprising and great!
Some things we never would’ve thought of and were pretty easy to do too.
Win-win for everyone!
Over to you…
And now you have a complete picture of what’s involved in being the very best PTO Teacher Appreciation Chair!
