National Teacher Day is upon us and its time we start thinking about what we can do to thank all those who teach and have made a difference in so many people’s lives. May 6th this year is meant recognize and celebrate the important roles and contributions of educators. Below are some ideas to get you started.

In the Community

• Run congratulatory messages on electronic signs outside banks or other businesses, or on billboards, banners or storefront signs.
• Offer teachers discounts on purchases made on Teacher Day.
• Invite all teachers to a reception in their honor, hosted by the mayor, school board, school administrators, Chamber of Commerce or other group.
• Invite teachers to a before-school “coffee, juice and pastries” salute at a local grocery store or other business – or even in a school parking lot (think tailgate party!).

In School

Consider the following actions that may be taken up by a school volunteer organization:

• Hang a sign on each classroom door saluting, by name, the teacher within.
• Have National Honor Society, Student Council or other student groups furnish punch and cookies for the teacher’s lounge on Teacher Day.
• Give teachers candy, apples or other food gifts with appropriate notes attached (e.g., fortune cookies with a note about how fortunate the school is to have a teacher of such high caliber).
• Provide balloon bouquets and flowers for every teachers’ lounge.
• Set up a lunchtime “Relaxation and Rejuvenation Spa” on Teacher Day, where teachers are treated to hand, foot, back and neck massages, perhaps while being serenaded by a student or parent playing a mellow cello.

Media Outreach

Consider the following to bring the day to the attention of the local media:

• Invite a local newspaper reporter or editorial writer, or a local TV news personality, to spend a day as a guest teacher or classroom observer, and then to publish or air his or her observations on what being a teacher is like today.
• Suggest that local media outlets either publish or broadcast quick interviews where local citizens – both well-known and not – answer one question: What teacher had the greatest influence on your life? This can also make a great topic for a call-in radio show on Teacher Day.
• Remind the community that teachers make a difference–in the classroom and beyond–by running an ad in the local newspaper on Teacher Day, listing all the local organizations where teachers do volunteer work.
• Contact the advertising department of your local newspaper to suggest that they offer special classified ad rates for students and others in the community to “advertise” their appreciation of local teachers on Teacher Day. Ads can be directed to a specific teacher or a whole faculty. Local merchants may also want to purchase space on this special page or spread for a display ad saluting area teachers.
• Contact a popular local radio station about the possibility of airing public service announcements to get the word to the public about Teacher Day. Script the spots and offer to record them yourself or have students record them.

Article “Ideas and Activities for Celebrating National Teacher Day,”  provided by National Education Association.

May 6th is National Teacher Day