Teacher Appreciation week ideas

4.18.17- 

Fresh from my appearance on Studio 5 & there are always things, tips & more info. I wanted to share but never seem to have enough time to get it all out during the segment.  I hope these ideas inspire you & want to sign up to help with Teacher Appreciation week at your school, in one way or another.  There are LoTS of you can serve & give to make it a wonderful week for the teachers.  

The biggest tips I can give you.  

1- Involve parents, let them know your plans & needs.  There are many willing to help by donating things you need. 

2- Communication! Let the students, parents & community know that something special is taking place in the halls of the school this week.  The more that know the better! 

3- Have FuN!  It's the little things, touches & details that make it exciting each day. 

First thing is  first, Decor!  Blow the teachers away with decorating their teacher lounge area.  Make them take notice & knock their socks off with something great greeting them as they walk in first thing Monday morning.  They will quickly learn that there is something awesome in the works for them during the week ahead. 

 Choose a theme or overall feel you want to create to carry through out the entire week.  I chose to use my collection of light boxes 

{Yes, I have 3 in my house alone.  They vary from my BiGGIE 16x20 sized one from @ShopBrightBox to a medium sized from @CinemaLightBox to a teeny tiny @HeidiSwapp sized one. You can never have too many} 

I also called a few of my friends to borrow there's too. The more the better! They really made a bold statement & great impact in that room.  Bright inspirational quotes & sayings lit up for all to see! 

- Loved this saying!  Perfectly appropriate for the teacher & served up on a lightbox to read-

 Garlands galore!  The best go to, quick, easy way to add color & fun to any space in no time at all!  I like to hang up at least between 3-5 garlands in a space.  You can never have too many.  Just make sure you contrast colors, size & textures for a wonderful display.  Anything goes when it comes to garlands! 

-Enjoyed creating this lettered one.  Went perfectly with the lightbox letters & only cost about $4 to make!-

The best part about this garland {that I didnt' get a chance to explain on the show}  is that by using the folding technique on the cardstock, to recreate a flap or ledge, is being able to simply set the letters on a string or ribbon, it's not a permanent thing.  You take rearrange letters, spell something different & even reuse that ribbon.  Nice to know that it can be used over & over again! Wha-lah!! 

-So fun to look around my house see what I had that I could use to capture all the things that teachers at a High School are involved with.  Not just teaching in the classroom but extra curricular activities & subjects they teach.  Tried to get a variety of things to represent them all & somehow it just all looks good together. 

-Liked putting the vintage tennis rackets in with rolling pins complemented each other well & represented a wide range of HS activities!- 

One great tip I forgot to mention regarding my light boxes is if you try to spell out something & don't have enough letters- use a dry erase marker.  It works great!! It will show up, help you finish spelling out the word & easily wash off the light box when you're done. 

Another great garland idea is a thank you card garland!  These are unwritten cards, just opened & placed on a string.  Simple & easy to do, under 2 minutes tops!  This was hung up above the teachers cubbies {their school mail station, where they received gifts & treats throughout the week} it was a perfect spot to hang these up & add some charm & color. 

Operation: Afternoon SuGAR rush!  Such a sweet thing to do & the MORE the better here again as well.  Reach out to parents & have them sign up to bake & bring 2 doz.  homemade cookies or brownies.  

{I kept track of what they were bringing so we had a good variety to choose from} 

When they arrived I took them off their paper plates & out of plastic baggies & displayed them using a variety of things.  Created levels by using pop crates, cake stands & pedestals to display the treats on.  Tucked cookies into cookie jars, vintage baking trays & baskets.  All to create a pleasing display.  

-Tasty South American cookies- caramel & coconut, yum!- 

-96 of my Grandma Hall's delicious gingersnaps tucked into trays of a vintage berry box.  So fun!- 

-Vintage glass jar, I purchased at The Spring Hive, & stuffed yummy chocolate chip cookies into.  Below is a vintage bread pan lined with parchment & stuffed full with Almond Joy Cookies, homemade Oreos & Oatmeal cookies.- 

 Enjoyed hearing the teachers & staff walk in & really pay attention to every little detail.  They NOTICED what the sweets where displayed in, they talked about it, it peaked their curiosity & made they say, "Oh, my gosh would you look at that."  "I would have never thought to use that for this."  or, my favorite, "I remember having one of these!"  A little time & effort, doing something different & little details don't go unnoticed! 

-Industrial sized muffin TiN for the WiN!  I didn't know what I would use this thing for when I bought it years ago but it sure served up quite the conversation that bright & early morning.  Looked perfect too stuffed full of giant, yummy muffins! 

Midway during the week I changed up the sayings & quotes on the light boxes.  Wanted to give the teachers something new to look at & think about.  Little changes here & there to make it fresh & new each day. 

Something else I didn't get to talk about but think it is VERY Important!  Is involve the students, however you can during this week.  They are the ones who need to show their appreciation most & get excited about celebrating & honoring their teachers.  Give opportunities for them to serve & help throughout the week, no matter what their ages.  Like I said I was able to do this at our High School last week. So I asked the Student Body Officers, the leaders of the school, to participate as well. They ROCKED it!  Creating a theme a day for the students to participate in, made posters & hung them up in the school & even posted on their Instagram page & wrote on the marquee board out front.   Great way to let the school & community know that there was something special happening this week. 

Always try to finish off the week with a BaNG!  Do something BiG whether it's an assembly, gift, treat or in our case call in the caffeine!  We contacted FiiZ drinks & they brought up there FiiZ truck, parked in outside during the lunches.  The teachers each received a coupon for a FREE 24 oz. drink of their choice.  

 Drinks were on us!  The smallest thing we could do. They deserve that & so much more.  Changed up the light box once again to go along with what we had going that day. 

 Just look at those happy faces!  So great to serve them up in such a fun way! 

What a great week to be apart of, a lot of work but so rewarding to be able to show appreciation in such a big way!  Everyday coming up with ideas & ways to spread a little bit of happiness.  It doesn't have to cost a lot to be able to do some wonderful things.  Glad I got to see the rewards first hand.  

Love teachers & grateful for them! 

{M}