Teacher Gifts: Beyond Coffee Mugs and Chocolate

The best gifts come from the heart – far removed from Rodeo Drive glitz or the cloying clichés repeated over and over in holiday ads.

Forget the tinsel. Give me the belly laugh of a baby, the crushed flower proffered by a toddler, the unexpected hug from a teenager, a chance meeting with an old friend, or a “love ya” note stuck in the bathroom mirror beside the inevitable toothpaste spatters.

Last week, I was volunteering in the nursery on the kindergarten wing at school, when a first-grade teacher peaked through the nursery window. She caught my eye and backtracked to the door.

“I haven’t seen you for ages! How are your girls?” she cried. “I remember when you came in to my class to read ‘The Rainbow Fish’ and did that craft. Then, you came back to read ‘The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey’ to the kids and the Easter lily story. I still have those crafts in my classroom.”

Her enthusiasm was heartwarming. The funny thing is that I didn’t read those stories last year …or even five years ago. No, it was 13 years ago! I invested a little time over a decade ago in my daughter’s first grade classroom, and that teacher still remembered it!

I think her memory is quite impressive, but her heart-felt appreciation after all these years really hit home. So, let me suggest a few alternatives to the teacher mugs, candles and boxes of chocolate that we so often give as tokens of appreciation to our hard-working teachers.

Giving Back  

• An excellent book for the classroom library.
• A hand-written note of encouragement. Include a positive quote or anecdote.
• A coupon offering to read books aloud to the class.
• A sincere offer to help with parties, field trips or room decorations.
• Good attendance at PTA meetings, back-to-school nights and parent-teacher conferences.
• Gift certificates to book stores, school supply shops AND the coffee shop most convenient to your teacher’s route to and from school.
• A commitment to send well-fed and rested children to school – on time.
• And, of course, consider a year’s subscription to Big Universe, which has almost 3,000 nonfiction and fiction picture books for children at all levels in all subject areas.

Teachers, what should I add to this list? I’d love your suggestions, so comment below.  

One Comment

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