Teacher Appreciation Week: Gift of Flowers

Way back last August when I started planning teacher appreciation week, I asked Raegan for ideas. One she gave me that fit perfectly with the theme of "Nurturing Gardens" was to have the children each bring a flower to the teachers. I sent this note home:

Hi Parents and Students!

Next week (May 7-11) is Teacher Appreciation Week at OUR Elementary. This is a great chance to show our teachers and staff how much we appreciate all they do for our children.

Our theme this year is “Nurturing Gardens.” For one of the gifts, we will be providing a vase for each teacher. We ask that each student bring a flower to give to his/her teacher(s). It can be a flower from your yard, a flower from the store,  paper flower, a synthetic flower…whatever your child would like to do. The idea is when the teacher has the flowers, she will have a beautiful bouquet that is unique—just like her group of students.

We will give the vase Monday. You are welcome to bring the flower any day that week. Thanks so much!

-Valerie Plowman
PTO rep over Teacher Appreciation

As promised, Monday I gave each teacher a vase. With it, I gave this poem I wrote (not the best poem ever written--please don't analyze it):

You love, teach, and nurture each day.
As the year passes, we bloom in our way.
We’ve grown to be so beautiful and grand,
In this growth, you’ve had an important hand.

We give you this vase to fill with a bouquet
of flowers that represent each of us, and say,
“We thank you, we love you. And please keep in mind
your effort has helped us to be one of a kind.”

I was concerned about students remembering to bring flowers in. Tuesday, I gave each teacher a beautiful yellow rose as pictured above. I attached a note that said "Thank you for helping our children to bloom." I knew this way there would be at least one flower in the vase that could remind students about bringing a flower. 

The teachers loved getting all of their flowers. My son gave his flowers out and was a bit surprised at the reaction he got from the various teachers. They all gushed and thanked. It made him feel happy they were happy, but he was confused why it made them so happy. I laughed and explained that if he ever wanted to make a woman happy, he just needed to give her a flower :). It was fun to see the variety and creativity of the flowers. There were all kinds.