After searching the net for ideas for our TAW celebrtions I came across acouple of GREAT ones!! 1. Take the kids outside, have them lay on the ground and make letters with their bodies. To spell out THANK YOU! and take pictures. Post the pictures in the teachers lounge 2. There is a clever list of sayings that go along with candies. Sweet Talk (submitted by Cathy Sork, Ft. Vancouver H.S.) Use candy and other treats to help share a thank you/encouragement message to teachers including:  Kudos ® to You!  You are worth 100 Grand ®!  Thanks for all the laughs and Snickers ®  You are Out of this World! (Mars ® or Milky Way ®)  You Deserve a Sweet Escape ® for All You Do!  Thanks for the Mounds ® of Work You Do!  Hope your vacation is Carefree ® (Gum)  You are M&M!!! (Marvelous and Magnificant)  Students and Teacher Working Together Makes a Sweet Symphony ®!  Thanks for putting up with us Ding Dongs ®!  You are O'FISH'ally Awesome!(Gold Fish ® crackers)  We Love You!!! XOXO (Hershey's Hugs and Kisses ®)  You Deserve an Extra Payday ®!  Thanks for always being willing to do EXTRA ®! (Gum)  You are a JOY! (Almond Joy ®)  We are NUTS about you  You were "mint" to be a teacher  Snack bag of chips with note "You're all that and a bag of chips!"  Have a poppin' good weekend (popcorn)  Thanks for pudding up with us. (Snack pudding)  Have a Cracker Jack® of a summer! Good Luck

As a teacher, I can tell you that there are several things that I appreciate from parents. First of all, know that Teacher Appreciation Week is a great idea but not all teachers are able to participate in the breakfasts/lunches! (I teach an afternoon Kindergarten class so with my teaching schedule, I miss lunch because my lunch break is at 10:00 a.m. and I miss breakfast because I team-teach at that time!) 1. Letter: Writing a letter to the principal and cc-ing it to the School Board/Superintendent and the teacher is a fabulous "gift" as it shows the parents' appreciation and effort, and makes a BIG impression on the administration. 2. Gift Certificate: Teachers are always appreciative of gift certificates to any office supply store, Target store, or crafts store. If there is a teacher supply store nearby, this is another great place to get a gift card. As a teacher, whenever I get a gc from a child, when I purchase something from that particular vendor, I always tell the entire class, "Oh, and a special thank you to so-and-so who helped pay for such-and-such today for our art project" or whatever. Grocery store gift certificates are also great for primary grade teachers (if the teacher does any cooking type activities). Book store gc are great, too. 3. Personalized: If you know the teacher well, and you know that he/she likes to get a cup of coffee at Starbucks, then a gc to Starbucks would be a nice personalized gift. Or, if the teacher likes fresh flowers, a single rose in a hand-decorated (by your child) vase such as a pretty water bottle would be wonderful. One of my personal favorites at the Christmas holiday is to receive homemade baked goods. Little things like this are always greatly appreciated. Last year, one of my students' dads was a chef and he made the BEST cookies. So, I would get these wonderful cookies for different occasions and I just loved it! Amelia would make me a handmade card and dad would bake the cookies, mom would wrap them in cellophane with a little bow and I'd be in heaven! It was just one of the nicest gifts I could ever get. (my hubby, who is a teacher too, would ask, "Did you get more of Amelia's cookies?")

Here's what we did for Teacher Appreciation Week at my daughters' middle school last week. On Sunday kids and parents showed up at the school and made posters, wrote notes and made banners with words of praise and love for the teachers. We also weeded the garden and the planters. Planted flowers at their entrance way. When they came in on Monday they were greeted by all the banners and posters and also had goodie baskets in the teachers room. Tuesday morning they were served breakfast by the parents. Wednesday was International Lunch day. Parents made dishes from around the world and served them to the teachers. Table cloths were put on the lunch tables with centerpieces to make it look nicer for the teachers. Thursday was candy in the mailboxes day. Friday was dessert and pie day along with warm wax hand dips, and shoulder, back and neck massages. The parent group has also set up a teacher wish list for things that they would like in the classroom that are not covered by the school budget. Our teachers know how much we appreciate them. Not just for one special week but all the school year. I love volunteering in the schools, been doing it for 11 years. It shows my kids how much I value education and their teachers. NancyLouise

This is a little late for this year but I wanted to share the response to the teacher appreciation gift I made for a 1st grade niece. She is always "designing" things for herself for us to embroidery. Last fall she came up with her idea but it didn't get stitched out until much later. It was the name of her school on the first row, elementary school on the next row, 5 stick kids on the 3rd row & "a fun place to learn" on the 4th row. She wore her's to school around spring break & her teacher commented that she needed one of those. She also had some flip flops she'd tied gingham check strips of fabric onto to match the pants she wore with her shirt. The teacher was admiring those too. As it got closer to school ending, she wanted to do flip flops for her herself & me make her a shirt. She gave it to her the day before school ended & she wore it the last day. I picked my niece up when school let out & she had a note with names & phone numbers of teachers that wanted to purchase one for themselves. Her teacher told her to give the note to her Mom so it wouldn't do for me to get it. Her Mom got with me on a price & started calling the teachers. She spoke with one she knew personally & she told her that all the first grade teachers had seen it on their hall, but when they went to lunch, the poor teacher couldn't eat for answering questions & standing up to model her outfit. She told her they were having a final teacher's meeting the following morning & she would pass the info on to those who may not have seen the gift. So ever who wanted to know what everybody was doing????? My answer is "Embroiderying shirts for school teachers".