From donuts to doodles, this is what New Hampshire teachers would really like for Teacher Appreciation Week.
It’s the little things—the personal gestures New Hampshire educators want most for Teacher Appreciation Week.
National Teacher Appreciation Week is May 4 to 8, with National Teacher Appreciation Day on May 5. New Hampshire current and retired teachers share their gift ideas, which, for the most part, involve sincere expressions of gratitude for making a difference in students’ lives.
Abby Legere, a sixth-grade social studies teacher at Timberlane Regional Middle School in Plaistow, said, “First and foremost, I’d love to get a direct message from a parent about a way I have positively impacted their child. There’s been so much negativity thrown at teachers lately that something like that seriously goes a long way.”
She added, “As for gifts, we’ve had lunches provided for us a few times. That’s great because it takes planning a meal off our plate for one day or even something like bringing in donuts for the morning.” Legere laughed and said, “Food in general. Teachers are like savage raccoons with free food.”
“The best gift is a handwritten card saying how much you mean to that child or family,” said Patty Langlais, an early-childhood educator and owner of the Stonewood School in Hudson. “Also, anything that a child makes for you means more than any store-bought gift.”
Langlais hangs and frames some of these notes in her classroom. One of her favorites is a poem called “A Parent’s Thank You,” written by a family of one of her preschool students, and thanks her “for all your patience day to day/for every tear you wiped away…for being there in place of me/we’re thankful and will always be.”
“Wine or gin…just kidding,” said elementary-school teacher Kate Butterfield-Reese, who moved from Westmoreland and now teaches at a school in New Zealand. “Honestly, I have a little pile of cards students have made me over the years. I enjoy looking back on them. I also have a stamp and a notepad that the kids personalized with my name. Extra cool because my students every year get a kick out of it…‘You have a stamp with your name on it? Wow!’ I love that. It’s the little things,” she said, adding that’s probably true for teachers all over the world.
Carol Guarino of Nashua, who has had a long career as a kindergarten and elementary school teacher, agrees. “Three favorites come to mind,” she said. “The first is parent volunteers. I know this isn’t possible for all parents, but the help on a Friday afternoon or assistance with a big project can help so much.”
“The second is a personal gift from a student. I still have a thank-you book shaped like a bear, a gift from a kindergartner, that sits on my coffee table. Each page thanked me for the things I taught her. She’s graduating from college in a few weeks.”
And lastly, said Guarino, are acts of kindness. When my class was about to celebrate Christmas, my school was broken into overnight, and all the gifts and personal decorations were taken. My class was devastated that their gifts to their friends and me were gone. The 8th-grade students, hearing this, put their heads together, made special cards, and gave their own gifts to my sweeties. Although it may not be considered a gift to some, this was one of my most cherished.”
“I still have a vase that a student gave to my mother some 60-plus years ago,” said Kate O’Neil of Nashua, who has had a four-decade career as a high school English teacher and school counselor. “I have a beat-up thermos coffee cup a student gave to me years ago that I still use today.”
O’Neil and other teachers said they really appreciate those students who keep in touch long after they leave their classrooms. “Think about it,” she said. “Forty-three years with about 100 students a year. It adds up. I think of so many, so often. It is the former students who still reach out and share snapshots of their lives, and the honest, caring reflections that mean the most.”
After a 30-year career in communications, Joy Whitaker of Merrimack fulfilled a lifelong dream by becoming a public middle school teacher. She taught English in Hudson for 16 years.
“My favorite was a letter written by a student who said he knew he could ask me anything about how to write something, the meaning of a word, or ‘what is an Oxford comma?’ His letter said it gave him confidence to write more and ask more questions.”
And while it’s true that these teachers appreciate sincere thanks, it’s also true that 93 percent of New Hampshire teachers spend an average of $400 of their own money on classroom supplies each year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
On a broader scale, some teachers, while feeling loved and appreciated by students, don’t necessarily feel that love from society or, in some cases, administrators, and would like more support.
The National Education Association, the largest teachers union in the country, represents three million educators. They want people to know this week is an ideal time to “turn appreciation into action,” their motto for this year’s Teacher Appreciation Week.
Becky Pringle, President of the NEA, in an announcement on the organization’s website, said more than another mug this year, teachers need advocacy. “They need a paycheck that supports their families. They need elected leaders who fight for their children, not billionaires.”
She urges those who want to demonstrate gratitude to educators to show up at the polls and municipal meetings, write to their representatives in Congress, attend school meetings, and drop a message on social media tagging @NEAToday and using the #ThankATeacher hashtag.
Kindergarten through grade 12 teachers in the state earn an average salary of $62,000 to $68,000 a year, according to the New Hampshire Department of Education, about $10,000 lower than the national average teacher’s salary. Still, 93 percent of those teachers spend an average of $400 of their own money on classroom supplies each year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
And while they obviously treasure those personal notes and drawings, a gift card for a cup of coffee or to a bookstore might also be appreciated by your children’s teachers.
This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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