w By Lyn Fiscus

With depressing economic news coming from all fronts, educators and other school employees—where salaries are not known for being ex-ceptionally high, to put it mildly—are feeling the pinch, like so many others around the country. Now might be a good time to remind them of the difference they are making in the lives of young people. An effort to let faculty and staff members know they are appreciated doesn’t have to cost a lot, but the effort can have a big impact. Try some of these ideas:

n Video tribute. Set up a video camera or have a team of students take one around campus to do quick interviews of students answering one question: Which teacher has had the greatest influence on your life? Com-pile a video with the answers and show it at a faculty or school board meeting.

n Cuppa warmth. Place a basket of hot cocoa mixes, instant flavored cof-fees, specialty teas, and spiced cider packets in a basket with a sign that says, “You warm our hearts!” Leave this in the staff lounge, cafeteria of-fice, or where bus drivers congregate in the mornings.

n Souper Staff. Ask parents to send a crock pot of soup and serve a soup lunch for faculty and staff members on a staff work day or as a dinner on an evening when there are parent-teacher conferences. Hang up a sign where the soup is being served that says, “We think you are ‘souper’!”

n Door signs. Hang a sign on each classroom door saluting, by name, the teacher within. For teachers who don’t have a single classroom, pick the one where they spend the most time, or their first class of the day.

n Essay contest. Sponsor an essay contest on “A Teacher to Remem-ber,” where students write about the special teacher who’s made the biggest impact on their life. Select winning essays—perhaps represent-ing a teacher at each level in your district—and send them to the local

newspaper for publication, or feature them on the school’s website.

n Wall of fame. Create a wall of fame for teachers, where you post comments from students, parents, and community members on the special contributions of each teacher. Set out forms for writing comments at sporting events and other events that draw people from the commu-nity and have a collection box where the comments can be turned in.

n Store signs. Ask local businesses

put up signs and banners that give thanks to teachers.

n Teacher take out. To recognize all the extra hours teachers put in beyond the school day, give them a night off from cooking dinner. Work with the PTA to have parents provide a variety of home-cooked dinners on a designated day and let faculty members stop by to “take out” a meal.

n Banana splits. Put a banana in the box of all staff members with an attached note which says “Don’t split after school, bring this banana to room _____!” Have the fixings for banana splits after school.

n Staff lottery. Conduct drawings at staff meetings for prizes donated by local businesses such as dinner for two, gift certificates, movie tickets, and so forth. Put in extra chances for staff members who volunteer to chaperone dances or other unpaid duty.

n Krispie treats. Make a batch of Rice Krispie treats and use a cookie cutter to cut out heart-shaped treats. Place each treat on a construction paper cut-out of a hand and attach a note that says “You have touched our hearts. Thanks for being part of our school.”

n Custodian dinner. Host a spa-ghetti or lasagna dinner for the custo-dians with students doing the serving and clean-up.

Staff Appreciation on a Shoestring

Vol. 4, No. 3February 2011In Brief

A publication for members of the Alliance for Student Activities

An effort to let faculty and staff members

know they are appre-ciated doesn’t have to cost a lot, but the effort can have a big

impact.

n Mocha morning. Create a travel-ing coffee shop by filling a cart with a wide variety of breakfast items including coffee and tea. Take the cart around to every teacher and staff member before school.

n Babysitting. Get students to organize a “night out” for faculty and staff members by providing babysit-ting services at school. Organize games and crafts for the kids while their parents enjoy the time away.

n Cookie Coupons. Recognize special contributions by putting “Cookie Coupons” in staff member mailboxes. Arrange with the cafeteria for staff members to redeem those coupons for a cookie or other special treat!

n Book donations. Ask each teacher what his or her favorite book is. Have a copy donated to the school library and include in each book a bookplate with the name of the teacher who chose the book.

n Teacher triumphs. Publish in the school newsletter or on its website stories of appreciation that tell about

the special ac-complishments of individual teachers.

Lyn Fiscus is founder of the Leadership Teacher website (www.leader-shipteacher.us) and a former student activi-

ties adviser. She serves as Vice President of the Alliance. This article originally ap-peared in Herff Jones’ Challenge newsletter in November 2008.

Quick IdeasA trip to the dollar store or gro-cery store yields a wealth of quick ideas for staff appreciation. Give each teacher or staff member one of the following items with an accompanying note for a quick reminder of how much they are appreciated.

• Apples—“You are the apple of our eye.” Attach construction paper leaves with nice sayings like “A+ teacher,” “You’re special,” “Your class is really a-peel-ing,” and so forth hot-glued to the stems.

• Oranges—“Orange you glad you work here? We sure are!”

• Tag with fun paper clips—“Thanks for holding everything together.”

• Highlighter—“Thanks for making our school a brighter place.”

• 100,000 Grand Bar—“We know the work you do this year will be worth more than 100,000 Grand!”

• Milky Way or Mars candy bar—“You are out of this world!”

• Mounds candy bar—“We ap-preciate the ‘mounds’ of work you do!”

• Fortune cookie—“We are fortu-nate to have you!”

• Bag of nuts—“We are ‘nuts’ about you!”

• Small mirror—“You are looking at a very special person.”

• Pencil in school colors—“Thanks for helping us write our future.”

• Power Bar—“We hope this ener-gizes your day.”

• Coffee cup or water bottle—“We are filled to the brim with great teachers.”

• Ruler—“You really measure up,” or “Our teachers measure up against any school’s, anywhere!”

• Goldfish crackers—“You are o’fish’ally the best!”

Alliance for Student Activitieswww.alliance4studentactivities.orginfo@alliance4studentactivities.org

In Brief is published five times per year by the Alliance for Student Activities, a nonprofit corporation whose mission is to promote the value of cocurricular student activities and to provide professional development and support for advisers and future advisers.

Board of DirectorsMike Smith, PresidentLyn Fiscus, Vice PresidentAnn Postlewaite, SecretaryJohn Glimco, Treasurer

© 2011 Alliance for Student Activities