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The way it's handled is some sort of e mail from room mother or PTA saying ...so and so is expecting a baby 2 weeks after school is out and we are all very happy for her and her family. If you would like to donate to a gift card please send a check made out to mrs. Room mother and give it to Suzy Room Mother before wednesday so her mother can buy the gift card.
My 7th grader likes to knit so she has been making little caps in all sorts of colors and yarns for baby gifts. She also has been sewing little bibs to have on hand. I encourage this kind of giving.
During Teacher Appreciation week the PTA and local restaurants sponsor a very nice luncheon. We "are given the opportunity" to donate for flowers, raffle gifts, and purchase tickets for non teachers and we also volunteer to baby sit the classes. but right now I'm thinking I'm through with writing checks. And now we can't even donate baked goods for the kids because of all the allergy concerns. We are encouraged to donate baked goods for carnivals (to sell) and for teachers' lounge. I really miss taking festive cupcakes to school for my own kids' birthdays.
I always was happy to send my kids to the first day of school with bags of kleenex, hand sanitizer, colored pencils, note cards, pencils, etc. And Christmas checks and then Teacher Appreciation Luncheons and Snack Table for conference days and on and on it goes. Now they are in middle school and each kid has at least 4 different teachers counting music, band, private lessons, etc. I'm over it.
Last night the 6th graders gave a band concert. Today before school started there was an e mail asking for checks for the Band Director to show our appreciation. Of course the teacher doesn't start these drives--it is the PTA but I think it is getting ridiculous. We live in a top notch school district and while no teachers are getting rich we have ridiculous property taxes to attract terrific teachers and they are paid fairly- better than others in our state.
I support more pay for teachers and better working conditions and more respect but I feel asking parents to pony up almost every month for "appreciation", baby showers, wedding gifts, retirement parties,end of year parties, etc is a bit much.
What's it like in your community?
I would presume the band teacher gets paid for this out of the classroom work. It's been 10 years since my youngest graduated from high school. It wasn't like that when they were in school. In elementary school they gave little gifts at Christmas and EOY, things like Christmas ornaments, etc.
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Originally Posted by emm74
We got those lists in daycare. I think it's more common to give personal gifts at that point. In public school, I've never seen anything like it, and other than including themselves on the classroom birthday lists (usually they make some type of poster, etc), I've never heard of a teacher making a big deal out of their birthday or expecting presents.
Although my son did once have a teacher who mentioned that she expected chocolate for Valentine's Day. I laughed and said I was sure she was joking and he said, nope, he thought she was serious. He's not the best at reading interpersonal dynamics so who knows? But he went in with some chocolate, just in case!
My daughter worked at a day care and she got showered with gifts at Christmas, mostly gift cards to stores that young adults such as her like to shop at. Also, one time a kid threw up on her and she got a gift certificate to get a new shirt. I was floored b/c as a nurse no one has ever done that for me. Well, they've thrown up on me, but never bought me new clothes because of it. We do get occasional gifts of food, which we LOVE!
Quote:
Originally Posted by emm74
The only times I've been asked for contributions are for a nominal amount if there is a classroom parent who is willing to coordinate a holiday or end of year gift from the whole class, or a couple of times in the case of extraordinary circumstances (unexpected medical crisis, etc). Otherwise, there is sometimes a voluntary collection that provides a holiday gift to non-classroom teachers, such as the office, janitorial and cafeteria staff, with the idea that people give classroom teachers directly/through a class collection.
My son really wanted to give out gifts to many people as he's leaving elementary school. So asides from his classroom teacher and the afterschool program teachers, he wrote out cards to all the specials teachers, the principal and the office staff, and I bought Starbucks cards for him to give out.
I think I would have resented being *asked* for this, but since this was my son's idea, I don't mind funding his desire to acknowledge the people who have been meaningful to him. And I greatly enjoyed reading all the cards he wrote, and seeing why he wanted to show his appreciation to them.
I have a cousin who was a teacher and she said she liked the personal letters and handmade stuff. Of course, that's her. Other teachers may prefer something else.
My daughter goes to a home based charter school and only has a few classes on campus. She grew a bunch of herbs and transplanted them into cute pots for all her teachers. We delivered them today and each teacher seemed to genuinely like them. They were impressed she was able to grow them, she has disabilities so it was great for her to receive praise from people she really looks up to.
I don't give anyone gifts and I tell people who ask me to participate in things like this it's just a rule.
Gifting is for my family and if I see something I think someone I know would like I might gift it to them, usually not on a special occasion day though but JUST BECAUSE. I made this rule because I couldn't afford to be stupid with my money.
The way it's handled is some sort of e mail from room mother or PTA saying ...so and so is expecting a baby 2 weeks after school is out and we are all very happy for her and her family. If you would like to donate to a gift card please send a check made out to mrs. Room mother and give it to Suzy Room Mother before wednesday so her mother can buy the gift card.
I wonder if this type of thing is becoming more common in the "social media" age?
Just the fact that a mass email could be sent out makes it a lot easier than Mrs. Room Mother making phone calls to 25 or 30 other parents in the classroom.
When I was PTA president in my children's school, before emails, if I wanted to send a message or newsletter out to the parents, it had to be approved a week in advance by the principal to be allowed to be distributed to the children in the school to go home to their parents. Plus I had to physically make copies and count out & distribute the correct number of copies to each teacher's classroom or mailbox. While, it was not that much work I suppose that now a PTA officer could just sent an email to every parent in the entire school (who released their email address to them) with just one push of the sent button while they sit at home in their pajamas .
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, in my 30 plus years of teaching I was only aware of two times that a pregnant teacher in my building had any type of baby shower organized by parents and that was two, very low key showers to kindergarten teachers. My children attended three different school districts and not once was I ever asked to contribute to a baby shower, wedding, birthday or retirement gift for a teacher either by another parent or by the PTA.
Last edited by germaine2626; 06-05-2015 at 06:50 AM..
. My children attended three different school districts and not once was I ever asked to contribute to a baby shower, wedding, birthday or retirement gift for a teacher either by another parent or by the PTA.
Well we are never asked either. It is presented as ...just thought you'd like to know and we are giving you the opportunity if you want to make a donation...but of course it is the same thing.
BTW someone in some combined neighborhoods sent out a massive e mail about our crossing guard retiring after being in the same spot for 30 years. He was beloved by all and was featured in several newspaper articles. he always gave high fives and a big smile to kids. He helped at least 2 generations of kids cross a very busy road. I was more than happy to contribute to that gift. it was especially sad when he was killed by a drunk driver just 2 weeks after retiring. His family really needed that gift to help bury him. You would not believe how many kids were taken to his funeral. I know his family really appreciated the support and love. Now his widow is our crossing guard.
When I was in sixth grade, my class had a surprise wedding shower for the teacher. It was organized by the mother of a classmate, one of the "rich" ones who had birthday parties like taking the entire class to a play and then ice skating. I don't remember what we did for a shower gift. Too long ago!
My daughter attends a private school. There are 16 kids in her class this year. Typically, at the beginning of the year each family kicks in $100 to cover teacher gifts through the year. My girl likes making personalized gifts -a card, a craft of some kind - which we'll give for a holiday or Teacher Appreciation week. Or if we see something special such as a souvenir of the local sports team which the teacher is a fan of, we'll pick that up. We've developed good friendships with each of her teachers and it's not unusual for us to call each other outside of school or even to occasionally meet for lunch on a weekend. This coming Monday is the last day of the school year and there's a handmade card waiting to be delivered thanking her for all the effort and help since last fall. And I'll tuck a gift card in there just to let her know that we really do appreciate all her work. This is not competetive parenting. We're able to do this and it does come from the heart. (And despite what some may think here, I do have one.)
My daughter attends a private school. There are 16 kids in her class this year. Typically, at the beginning of the year each family kicks in $100 to cover teacher gifts through the year. My girl likes making personalized gifts -a card, a craft of some kind - which we'll give for a holiday or Teacher Appreciation week. Or if we see something special such as a souvenir of the local sports team which the teacher is a fan of, we'll pick that up. We've developed good friendships with each of her teachers and it's not unusual for us to call each other outside of school or even to occasionally meet for lunch on a weekend. This coming Monday is the last day of the school year and there's a handmade card waiting to be delivered thanking her for all the effort and help since last fall. And I'll tuck a gift card in there just to let her know that we really do appreciate all her work. This is not competetive parenting. We're able to do this and it does come from the heart. (And despite what some may think here, I do have one.)
What the heck do they do with sixteen hundred dollars?! AND the teacher gets gift cards and additional presents? What a racket.
Maybe, but as a former teacher in high school I did spend a lot of money out of pocket for my classes. I can't even imagine how much elementary school teachers spend. The fact is what was "free" when I went to school isn't anymore. Someone has to pay for these things.
When I was younger (raised in the 80s) we had holiday parties. To be honest, I don't know who paid for all the food and decor. I know it wasn't my parents. Was it the teachers or the school? Or was it the home room parent?
When I gift the teachers for Xmas and end of school year, I consider it a payback for whatever s/he spent on my kid throughout the school year. I don't see this as a competition at all.
I totally agree with this. What I don't like is that we send our kids to private school and then the school asks for more money with the annual fund. Ugh. But I am happy to give my kid's teachers $25 visa cards when ever I can. I know they spend a lot of their own money in class aren't getting rich in their chosen profession.
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