Some Details

I said I would share some of our Teacher Appreciation surprises once the teachers had seen them. Well, here you go. We kicked off the week long celebration today and it was a success! Stacy and I have been having so much fun getting all of this together and we're delighted that our plans so far have been well received.

We started last week with a banner in the hallway by the front doors of  the school to pump up the kids and let the teachers know that we were thinking of them. We wanted to build some school spirit and buzz. It definitely worked because I heard both staff members and students talking about Teacher Appreciation Week.

All last week, we scurried around shopping and putting together the many projects that will be revealed as the week goes on. We spent last night getting the room ready. 

A little window cleaning was the first order of business.

Then we set up the daily raffle. The teachers are automatically entered into the raffle and we have a prize for each day. Today's theme was pancake breakfast. It included apple strudel pancake mix and Quinn's Sugar House maple syrup, along with the little black basket that the winning teacher can hopefully use somewhere in her classroom. We draw the winner and make the announcement at dismissal. 

We added a banner that said Thank You across the windows.

But the letters fell off, which I suspected they would. So when we got there to set up this morning, our friend, and a teacher at the school, Erin, had attached them to the window. I actually liked it better. Thanks Erin!

Lastly, we added some pots of flowers and candy to the table.

Today we started with a staff breakfast which was mostly coffee and pastry donated by Mim's Market, but Stacy and I added some yummy coffee cake and fruit for variety. 

I forgot to take a picture right away so the fruit bowl is almost empty already, but it really was there!

The last thing we added today was a door prize that all staff member in the building are eligible to win. While the daily raffle is just for teachers, the door prize can be won by anyone who enters. We were lucky to have the Peila family donate the meat for a barbecue so we added some condiments and accessories and had a very nice door prize. 

The meat is in the freezer at Stacy's house until we pick a winner.

We have a few more surprises up our sleeves so the fun is definitely not over. What we do know for sure is that our kids will be grateful when the week is over and they get  a wee bit more attention. It's been lots of work, but we know how much the teachers appreciate it and they are worth spoiling rotten for one week a year. But it's important to remember that they should be thanked in small ways all year long. After all, they spend almost as many waking hours with your kids as you do.