My daughters first grade teacher is retiring after 37 yrears of teaching. There are 3 other teachers at the school retiring this year. All with 30+ years of teaching. At the PTO meeting tonight we were brainstorming of gifts or ceremonies for these wonderful much loved teachers.
We thought about an assembly, a tea and cookies event.photo books.. but didn't come up with any great ideas..
Anyone have a good idea?
I really like the idea of donating something lasting to the school in their honor. A tree (three trees?) something that is lovely, but not costly to maintain AND able to be duplicated. Meaning, if next year three more teachers retire, can you do the same thing.
AND an Assembly where you present them with their gift.
Ya know, as corny as this sounds my employer still does the gold watch and I think that is cool. I think I would have responded differently if it was just one teacher because then you could go with something specific. Just three or four at once screamed traditional.
How nice to plan an event.
I like the idea another poster had about gold watches.
You could turn whatever area (gym let's say) into a nicer area when you do the assembly w/tea & cookies by adding white cloth table cloths (you can purchase at a Dollar Store) then adding some silver trays for the cookies. Put the tea in silver teapots (you can borrow from moms or teachers). A single red rose in a vase in the middle.
You could do one long banquet table but it would look nicer/fancier if you had several round tables w/the white table cloths.
Tea
Cookies (an assortment. Pick out some fancier ones in the cookie aisle at
the grocery store.).
Faux silver trays & they even have silver colored plasticware for a nicer
look at the Dollar Stores. Party stores will have them but they will be
more expensive.
Obviously a speech.
I like both Turnip's and Micky's ideas. I do want to say, as a 50 something year old now who has to wear reading glasses, ahem, that it would be nice to choose bigger watch faces without a lot of busyness on the faces so that your retirees can see them without having to put on their reading glasses everytime they look at their wrists. I had to give up my very favorite watch because I just couldn't read the mother-of-pearl too-small face anymore, and my arm just wasn't "long enough" from my eyes to be able to see the darn thing without putting on my reading glasses LOL!
It's a lovely thing you ladies are doing, paying homage to 30+ years of teaching!
When my principal retired I had my students come up with a list of things she could do now that she was retired. We had everything from shop all day to visit Egypt to go sky diving! We made a list so each kid had a different idea then they made an illustration to go with it.
This would be something for the individual classes to do, not school wide, but wanted to mention it because I know my principal got a kick out of it (especially the picture the child drew of her sky diving!)
We had a beloved teacher retire from our campus last year. The students were all given 2x2 sheets of paper and encouraged to make a piece of art for the teacher. We then took as many as we could and put them in a large frame, I think 36 inches by 18, and presented that to him. It was so hearwarming to see his reaction at having this piece of art that the students created.
Something lasting. What does the school need? Some schools are planting vegetable gardens to teach kids about healthy eating, so how about calling it the Teachers' Garden and putting up a plaque with their names on it? How about planting a nice shade tree (or several), perhaps a flowering variety, with a small sign - something to beautify the grounds? The town DPW will often do some of the work, and sometimes a local nursery will help by discounting or providing some of the materials. You could do a row of trees, to beautify the entrance area, each one with a sign for an individual teacher.
Perhaps a piece of playground equipment? Something for the computer lab or library? Something related to teaching and learning, that will benefit all of the students to whom these teachers have collectively donated so much of their lives? A lot of teachers also spend their own money on supplies that aren't covered by the budget - so perhaps a fund or a supply "bank" that everyone contributes to? There might be space considerations but it is a gift that would keep on giving. Or, set up a scholarship fund in each teacher's name that supports an area of importance to each individual. Some districts already have educational foundations, supported by fundraisers, that give out grants to individual teachers who apply for something special in their classrooms that is not covered by the budget.
In our area, a group created bracelets, with colored beads to match the school colors of many area districts. Two friends of mine work for school districts and volunteer to play piano for an area women's chorus that sings in nursing homes. They get a gift after every concert season, and one gift that totally touched them was a gift of a bracelet with beads in the colors of their respective town districts. Proceeds went to the arts programs in both schools. They were both incredibly touched by this gift, way more than by the very nice things they had gotten in other seasons, nice as those gifts were.
I think a memory book is nice for them to take home too - it takes a lot of work but if you have enough people, it can be done. If you have access to years of class pictures, it might be fun for someone to make a display for each teacher of all the kids they have taught over the years. If someone is clever enough, the display could be dismantled and turned into a book. You could ask for testimonials from current and former students, but that could become unwieldy unless you scan and turn it into a digital form.
Good luck!
I say....a Spa gift certificate. They definitely deserve it and could all go together.
