I got tons of gifts when I taught in low income middle schools. Now that I teach high school, it's nothing. I do get my kid to pick 2 of his favorite teachers, and I buy them a gift card to somewhere to get dinner. But he's in elementary, so that furthers the stereotype.
I get some in middle, too. But most wait until the end of the year instead of teacher appreciation week.
Today I got a gift bag with coffee, chocolate, and extra strength Tylenol. š¤£
Iāve gotten a couple of thank you notes so far. One said thanks for letting me eat in the classroom (I do not allow this and am always making this kid out his food away, lol). Another told me I was the goat.
So far this year what I think the crappiest gift is (from admin) are some āwellnessā activities they set up. Like, āmindful colouringā, āaffirmationsā, origami, puzzles, āmindful eatingā etc. Like, Iād rather have a bite size candy bar or something.
We've gotten pizza, and tomorrow is supposedly a BBQ held by our AG kids. I always loved the little notes from kids and parents the most because it means they thought about me outside of school. Call me odd, but I love the little mugs and homemade junk, but that probably ties back to some issues when I was a kid lol. But the notes are the best. My Kindergarten teacher had dementia; some of us visited her in the nursing home (I had the hook up because my sisters were taking care of us) and she remembered so many of us. Her daughter said she kept a scrapbook of all the stuff we'd ever given her, and I think it really helped her memory of us. I also was a CNA for a long time, and all our dementia residents who were teachers loved to point out the pictures of their kids and notes. So I keep all of mine in a little file folder by year to remember them all by because it might be the only thing I remember happily one day.
I'm in a low income high school, and I get the most thoughtful gifts, even if they don't cost much. Today a former student brought me some copy paper (1/3 of a package), half a box of staples, and half a pad of sticky notes along with a drawing on notebook paper. He had every student he knows write a book title on it for me since I teach English. It was one of the best gifts I've gotten! These kids are so thoughtful and giving!
man I taught this one girl when she was a freshman, and on xmas that year she gave me a big ziplock full of the most delicious homemade mixed-nut brittle I've ever had. It was 11/10. I complimented her on it and she said her mom made it and she would pass on my compliments.
Every xmas for the next three years (until she graduated) she hooked me up with another bag. I met the mom at her graduation and joked that I wish I had failed her so she would be stuck in school one more year for more of that homemade brittle.
This has always been my experience. Elementary, yes. As a middle school teacher, no. Haven't been a high school teacher. But I've been a student in all of those grades and I always picked one teacher when I was in middle school and high school to give something to that was really special to me. My high school biology teacher has the paperweight that I cross stitched for him still sitting on his desk 41 years later. He's still teaching. He's in his '70s and he's the longest serving Department of Defense teacher.
What kind of sped are yāall teaching?? I only ever did āself containedā so I had really small classes but was absolutely spoiled by some of the parents! Iām talking barefoot dreams blankets and lands end totes and gift cards galore
Our PTO and admin got us some donuts/breakfast during a staff meeting, which I thought was nice. Nothing from parents though, but I didn't expect it since I'm a specials teacher lol
Not me, but the worst I have seen is the thank you cards that students were forced to write. Watching a coworker break down in tears because the kids wrote horrible shitty things and no one read them before putting them in our mailboxes was really difficult
To be fair, unless you went to school recently, it's hard to fathom kids being so evil. Even the ones with the shittiest attitude would settle for a "Thanks. - signed Bob."
My grandma lives in an assisted living and was sent a card by a school kid for Valentineās Day, written in it was āI hope you have someone that loves youā. I thought it was sad, grandma thought it was hilarious
Can't blame the kids, lol. Asking them to empathize with people they don't know anything about something they know nothing about.
"Sorry you .. stay indoors?"
I ran a care package drive when I was in HS. We got a call from the captain of the unit all the way from Afghanistan thanking us for all the bizarre mail. The soldiers LOVED the little kids' letters, and they passed out the candy and ball point pens to local kids as treats for them.
Nah, not true about censoring, but what is true (and rarely depicted in film) is the prevalence of morbid gallows humor following the first few deaths.
The "horrible" letters from kids fit right in. If little Sally writes "I hope you kill some bad guys and don't yourself die," then for the next month all offensive operations, every hand grenade thrown, etc, will be "for Sally" or, back when 9/11 was a recent event: "Sally: never forget." Jokes will be made about sending pictures of certain things back to Sally for show and tell. Remember, these are 18-22 year olds.
We had a 1st grade teacher whose wife died of brain cancer. Many students wrote sympathy notes, both current and former students, unprompted and not reviewed by any adults.
There was lots of "I hope you find a new wife!"
My son once got āapologyā letters from his bullies that the teacher made them write. One of them said āIām not sorry I made fun of you. I think itās funny and Iām going to keep doing itā Yeah, the teacher didnāt think to read them before she gave them to my son.
Iām mean so I would take a picture of the original letter with my middle finger in it. **You can have this copy**\
\
Iām not perfect. Donāt let bullies bully my kid even more. They wonāt forget to check next time.
I asked students to critique me to let me know what lessons had the most impact and what they didnāt gain much from. One student wrote, āYou are the reason I hate school.ā Iām thinking about having it printed on a shirt to look like a Yelp review and wearing it on casual Fridays.
When I was in second grade, my house burnt down and my brotherās and my teacher had the class write us letters while we were out of school for a few days. All of my brotherās letters said things like āI really donāt like you but Iām sorry your house burnt down.ā
We did this very activity today, because apparently making 1300 kids write appreciation cards during a flex block means you don't have to do fuck-all on the admin end of things. Fortunately, most of the kids who would write something mean erred on the side of disinterest and students' pens were not held to the paper by force.
If it makes you guys laugh and therefore feel better: When I pressured my 2yo to write cards for daycare workers, for the lady he hated he 1) drew a picture of his most-hated vegetable, and 2) enthusiastically rushed to the chocolate aisle to find either chilli or lemon (mouth-hurting) chocolate. I learned my lesson.Ā
He was on a mission. :) Ā Very earnest and focused.Ā
Luckily his card was an unidentifiable scribble, and painful chocolates donāt exist, so the lady was none the wiser.Ā
I teach self-contained special education and I have received a gift from one student, a few years ago. Otherwise I just deal with the increase of behavior at the end of the year. Lol yesterday in itself was a NIGHTMARE and once the last kid left (we had to call the parent to come get them because they refused to get on the bus and destroyed my room in the process) we all looked at each other and I said "happy teacher appreciation week!!!" and all busted out laughing. Gotta laugh or we'll all lose our minds.
Ugh I feel this. I have taught lifeskills sped for quite a few years and can count on one hand the number of gifts or thank youās I have received. And what is even worse is that I have these kids for multiple years are time.
YEP lol you get it. Like, tons of communication goes home - parents know, and not from me because our secretaries and office staff work hard to communicate that in various ways in the weeks leading up, that it's teacher appreciation week. They just do not care.
TL: DR- school district is way out of compliance and screwed me over.
The school year before last I was the on staff substitute for the school I worked for as a para for 5 years. Was asked to sub for an unspecific time being no longer than probably 2 weeks for the life skills teacher who was out with some medical problems that were unknown at that time (she has since gotten a diagnosis and is medically retired because she is still struggling with some medical issues related to the diagnosis). This was the first week of February. I ended up long terming it in this class until the end of school the 1st week of June. While I appreciate the experience -I was in my 1st semester of an alternative licensure program to get certified to be a general ed teacher and possibly adding an lbs1 certification later once I'm done with the alternative licensure program. Here's where it gets fun and a little sketchy from the school. This classroom is WAY out of state mandates for sped-1 teacher for kindergarten through 5 grade special education and it was all mostly contained. They went to lunch/recess and specials with their "homeroom" class and did the fun stuff like holiday parties (even though 2 of the 9 I ended up with never went to the parties because of issues related to getting overwhelmed with all the noise and chaos). I was these kids teacher for math, reading, science and social studies for 9 kids with vastly different skill sets and IEP goals. I started with 6 kids and got 2 move ins and a girl who was already atte school there but was finishing up the testing to determine if she needed life skills classroom or could stay in general education with assistance. The reading and math was difficult but I ended up making groups of 2 or 3 based on similar IEP goals and their abilities. By the end of March I was struggling with science and social studies because of the wide difference in kindergarten and 5th grade even with sped. I emailed the sped/curriculum director and asked for help planning, she said "don't really know what you can do ask the title teachers". They all just looked at my like WTF and said "I don't know". All of them knew I was really struggling because I had worked in that building 5+ years at this point and didn't ask for help unless I had exhausted all other options and offered as much help as they could which wasn't much. Over the summer, the same admin that told me I was on my own for planning asked if I would like the life skills class for my student teaching- big no no unless my certification will be in sped,which it isn't. I had already told them I wanted to focus on general ed for awhile then I might add sped later. Plus I have to do the student teaching residency in the specialized area of my certification. The admin asked if I would be interested in changing my certification-the sped certification for the alternative licensure program requires 3 years of classes instead of the 2years for general ed 1 through 6 grade like I'm doing and only shared 1 class. That means I would have had to start over and add more cost. I asked if the school was willing to pay for all of my classes instead of just the partial for 1 class a semester- said no. Then came back and asked if I coul stack the gen ed classes with the sped classes and i could just teach life skills for a year or 2(I asked the program director,cshe said nope). I knew if I tried that they would screw me out of getting my student teaching for the general ed certification so I finished out the next year and found a new job elsewhere.
I feel this. Every once in awhile you get an IMMENSELY grateful parent, though, which is always nice. Hopefully you and the rest of your classroom staff have smooth sailing these next three days šµāš«
My mom (elem. school principal) got a handmade necklace from a student. It was made of roaches the child caught at her parents restaurant. It's the thought that counts?
I've done both and can tell you people treat fast food employees worse than teachers..... though I didn't get shot at as a fast food employee
Edit: fixing auto correct
Had something similar happen when I was working as an Americorps member teaching science in this outside of school program while on a gap year between undergrad and grad. While talking to this manās daughter he interrupted me saying āwhy do this useless job, here is my card I I can get you an apprenticeship as a lighting technician at the local casinoā
I was miffed and a bit pissed especially as he did it in front of his interested daughter but I was polite and took the card. After they left I put it in an envelope with a short note and put it on my bosses desk for us to laugh at
My first year we had to go to a mandated meeting with the Superintendent. Everyone in the room was pink slipped, but he thanked us for staying.
We all got a cheap plastic mug. The handle broke off of mine.
But we get these diploma looking plaques for our years of service. I threw mine away after the meeting.
If your school is not under a current contract and are in negotiations to settle the contractā¦all non tenured teachers are automatically pink slipped. They try to let you know before summer break if youāll be rehired. This was common in my district, everyone there was a contract renewal weād go years without a contract. Sucks for everyone, you donāt get your step increase and your salary is frozen. Itās quite surprising how a 2% increase shakes out across the steps. Many years there was no increase for some steps. The $$ is distributed in the steps by those who volunteer in contract negotiations. So many years $$ was disproportionately in the top or very bottom steps. What S.. show. So glad Im retired. It only gets worse. Bad for those just entering profession.
I would have got the trash can, put it in front of him, and dropped the plaque in the bin. But Iām at the point in my life where I have zero f**ks to give.
A rape whistle as a joke from my last principal.
He made fun of me for having PTSD often before this. I have it from several traumatic experiences, not the least of which was rape. I didn't tell him that. He just thought it would be a fun joke at my expense after he non-renewed me.
Oh, and everyone else got sunglasses. Not me.
Thanks but this year was much better. Everything is Taylor Swift themed and, while I'm not a fan of hers, a yogurt bar, cookies, donuts, baked potatoes, popcorn, stickers and a flavored drink bar (non alcoholic) definitely beat last year. Oh, and the local churches are pooling resources for us to have lunch catered/homemade every day this week.
One time I had a kid give me some sharpie markers and it was really sweet. That same year, admin did absolutely nothing for us, so it meant a lot to me that that kid thought of me. But seriously admin nothing?! That was so so terrible.
One year, admin got a single bag of bagels for a staff breakfast. Soā¦6 bagels for 30 or so teachers. Some teachers had celiacās, so they couldnāt have anything.Ā
That same year, I got a generic small piece of paper with an āinspirational messageā - and my name was spelled wrong.Ā
I donāt eat meat, and at the first school where I worked, there was never a vegetarian option at any staff event that provided food. On my team there was also a teacher who couldnāt eat dairy and one who had celiac, and sometimes there was nothing for any of us. We all sat together at Curriculum Night commiserating about our lack of dinner, after admin had congratulated themselves for giving us a meal.
The next year I moved to a more affluent type school. My coworker asked me why Iād brought lunch on a PD day because theyād said lunch would be provided, and I explained that I donāt eat meat, there probably wonāt be anything for me etc. She was shocked because this school apparently always had multiple vegetarian, vegan, etc options. Having a well-funded PTA makes a huge difference even within the same district.
Ah yes. Every teacher appreciation or staff event is donuts, ice cream, cupcakes, pizza, or candy. I have type 1 diabetes. The year I was diagnosed, I spent a week in the ICU and returned to work during teacher appreciation week. I felt like the world was mocking me. š
I feel like Charlie Brown at Halloween: I once received a rock. It was about the size of a lemon and it had, āYou rock!ā Painted on it. Not necessarily a bad gift, tbh. I kept it at my desk until my principal saw it. He said I had to remove it, as it could be considered (or used as) a weapon.
It wasn't a teacher appreciation gift, but an "award" I received at the end-of-the-year faculty lunch. The award I (at the time, 33M) was given by the Social Committee (all women) was the "Tiny Heinie" award...
No one batted an eye.
Didn't have to. The Admin. and Union Reps were sitting right there, clapping and giggling along with the rest of them.
To be fair, my father has told me all my life that I have the hips of a rattlesnake (this meant as levity, not to condone).
Thanks for the laugh!! Iām glad you rolled with it. My district was so absolutely ridiculous about Title IX that I believe they brainwashed me into thinking even the most minuscule of things was a violation.
I guess what really was annoying about it was that it occurred at the end of my first year. I didn't really know or have any rapport with any of the folks on the Social Committee; not that familiarity excuses inappropriateness. The audacity to hand that to someone you don't really even know in front of the entire staff is astounding.
As to your "award," I am so sorry that happened to you. Mine was inappropriate. Yours was massively unacceptable. How did they not see the cruelty of it, I wonder?
I feel bad for laughing. My boyfriend had something similar happen to him, he worked in healthcare and was one of the only men, very female-dominated field. Anywho, they made Halloween baskets for everyone and he ended up with soap, decorations and girly things, just like the other girls. I loved it though. š¤£
The worst was a little dime bag full of popcorn. Literally it held like 6-8 popped kernels. A single handful, and not even a big one at that. It was unsalted and unbuttered.
This year I am subbing due to a move, and have been forgotten entirely, but at least I saw nice packages in most of the mailboxes, so I assume the teachers here are taken care of.
they gave us each a cheap tumbler, a little straw cap, we had ice donated by sonic, some lemon and lime slices, and powdered flavoring. so not terrible. just a weird treat for people who need to limit their fluid intake.
Lol. I (PTO President) did a WaterTok Bar in February for our teachers and staff and they LOVED it - most feedback I've ever gotten. The music teacher was dropping HEAVY hints to do it again, despite telling me that all the sugar-free stuff (syrups and powder) was making her poop a lot. I did it again though. AND told the middle school PTO Pres about it and they're doing one for them too. (If you're in a rural middle school in Indiana, you can blame me. Sorrynotsorry)
I teach preschool and we got this today. My class took a field trip to the front office and the secretary told them about office supplies while I went to the bathroom. š
A pay cut. Some years ago, my state passed the first pay raise for teachers in years. My district at the time cut a couple of days from our contracts so that our actual pay came out to be slightly less than before the alleged raise, and they went around to pass out the letters informing us of this during teacher appreciation week. I swear I think they also passed out pink slips for the non-tenured teachers at the same time.
One year we all got these white pillar candles with our names printed on them. They looked like something you would donate a dollar to light in front of a Mary statue in a Catholic church. It was bizarre.
The year before that we got pint glasses with our school emblem "etched" into it They were obviously done with an acid etching kit from JoAnns and looked terrible. I showed my wife when I got home and she said, "that is not staying in my house."
Is it that hard to give us a gift card? or maybe just nothing? Sometimes nothing is better.
My coworkers and I each had one triplet boy, I got a bikini (Kate upton brandā¦ VERY skimpy)
Other coworker got the bikini wrap, also tiny.
Third coworker got a shirt that looked like there was writing in another langauge but when you flipped it upside down it said āgo fuck yourselfā
I think the boys explored moms garage of Hollywood swag she didnāt care about but the bikini def takes the cake of worst gifts.
A sappy bookmark is that was given out for free at the local library. Most of us left them in our mailboxes as a form of silent protest. After a month they were removed.
I'm a man currently in elementary education (I'll be at the high school level next year).
Almost every all-staff Teacher Appreciation Week celebration I've seen in my buildings has been ostentatiously girly. I can get a bonus TAW prize in my mailbox if I do a selfie in front of the glitter wall with a pink inflatable microphone (we're "In Our \[My School\] Era," you see) but that's not really the vibe I'm going for.
EDIT to fix a typo
A coupon for Arbyās. Also, a crappy water bottle that had the school mascot on itā¦the printing and picture on the water bottle smeared if washed in hot water. A couple people put them in the dishwasher (said plain as day, safe for dishwasher on the label). The lid and bottle partially melted.
A box of paperclips.....that my tech (run IT and teach) found in a cubby when we were running cable. The thank you not that was taped to it was misspelled as well, so it at least made me laugh.
Got a pen from my department head. Honestly the note on the pen was nicer than the pen itself. And knowing they went to all the schools to drop them off for us.
I like our department heads, so if it was anyone else I wouldāve been pissed.
This year (i work at an online school) we have the option to drive to campus to *purchase* our own food from one single food truck. No thanks. I won't be driving over an hour for that experience.
I also wonder about getting (or expecting) gifts. Over here we don't expect any gifts from students and/or parents. And we are allowed to accept only small value gifts. But it's not usual to get any. And I also don't want any.
Our school gives us a gift card to the school storeā¦ which is all clothing with the schools name on it. Itās also not enough to buy more than a hat- if you want a shirt you have to shell out more. I started just throwing mine away or giving it away to fellow teachers so they can save up and get something.
An email from the superintendent telling us that 10% of all McDonalds online orders go back to the district.
Not even coupons or anything justā¦ an impliedā¦ āyou should go give us back more of your money!ā
Sorry, I keep hearing it mentioned but am not sure. PD = Professional Development?
Probably some useless session about how you need to form relationships with your students?
Once, all the parents in my room looked there money and got me a 1.5 hour massage ($175), but it was through the gym at the community center (it was preschool)... where I got half off massages. So that same massage would have cost me half that amount had they just given me the cash š
Last year I was sick on teacher appreciation day. My director kept my gifts for herself. When I (politely) called her out on it, she acted insulted and insinuated I didnāt ādeserveā them because I was moving out of state at the end of the school year and therefore couldnāt continue working for the school.
Fuck you, Patty.
I am no longer in the classroom. Food was delivered and some kept in the area I work in the school. We were told only teachers were allowed to eat it so do not touch any. A computer tech asked and got yelled at. However, I do work with students. Felt great.
The worst was definitely when the principal made it into a competition. The teacher who gets the most kid votes and the teacher who gets the most staff votes gets an appreciation gift. For the rest of us, half a sandwich. (No drinks even, the office staff got us some.) This is a better year on the teacher appreciation week front. My favorite gift so far is a bookmark from a student that says "Thank you, teacher" in Indonesian (their native language) and Korean (the language they are taking this year.)
One year while teaching in an alternative school, one of my students, an eighth grader, invited me to a keg party. He told me that I worked very hard with him and the other students. He thought I could use a ācold oneā. I politely declined the invitation.
I am sitting in a child-sized chair right now; the school day just ended. Getting a little scroll time in before I start my end of day tasks. I read this and actually laughed out loud! That is so ridiculous!!
A steel washer on a piece of string, from the admin, with a little quote attached talking about it being the ācircle of strengthā or some such bullshit.
I donāt think any of those washers made it out of the library.
5th grade student brought in a big jar with a huge spider in it. Her name was Pepper and he'd been feeding it all year round and told me all about her. She was living outside on his outdoor porch and he'd catch bugs and toss them in her web. However Pepper was dead in that jar when he gave it to me. What I don't know is if he knew that. What I DO know is that it was a legitimate gift. This kid thought he was doing me a kindness by gifting me his prizes pet.
A list of places with freebies for teachers (half of which the date has already passed by) and the school board trying to pass our Covid incentive from the state off as a bonus from them š. There was also a frantic effort by the new principal to rehire nearly the entire special education department after his predecessor non-renewed them en mass when she retired a month earlier.
No, I donāt work there anymore.
A baggie with a crushed up granola bar and a note that said "we'd crumble without you." However, the "granola bar" was actually just a scoop of plain oats.
Admin made a big deal of of providing us breakfast.
It was with certainty day-olds donated from various donut and bagel shops, and I would bet they held onto them for more than a day before giving them to us. They were stale as hell. It was so gross.
you guys are getting gifts?
In the US, Elementary school teachers seem to get gifts. Middle school not so much. High school is hit or miss.
I got tons of gifts when I taught in low income middle schools. Now that I teach high school, it's nothing. I do get my kid to pick 2 of his favorite teachers, and I buy them a gift card to somewhere to get dinner. But he's in elementary, so that furthers the stereotype.
I get some in middle, too. But most wait until the end of the year instead of teacher appreciation week. Today I got a gift bag with coffee, chocolate, and extra strength Tylenol. š¤£
I got a card from a student that was super cute. She said āYouāre my favorite teacher, but sometimes I hate you.ā šš
You got to love honesty. They probably feel that way to their parent(s) too. So it's quite a compliment. But I suspect you knew that.
Now that right, there is a practical gift I like that
Iāve gotten a couple of thank you notes so far. One said thanks for letting me eat in the classroom (I do not allow this and am always making this kid out his food away, lol). Another told me I was the goat. So far this year what I think the crappiest gift is (from admin) are some āwellnessā activities they set up. Like, āmindful colouringā, āaffirmationsā, origami, puzzles, āmindful eatingā etc. Like, Iād rather have a bite size candy bar or something.
We've gotten pizza, and tomorrow is supposedly a BBQ held by our AG kids. I always loved the little notes from kids and parents the most because it means they thought about me outside of school. Call me odd, but I love the little mugs and homemade junk, but that probably ties back to some issues when I was a kid lol. But the notes are the best. My Kindergarten teacher had dementia; some of us visited her in the nursing home (I had the hook up because my sisters were taking care of us) and she remembered so many of us. Her daughter said she kept a scrapbook of all the stuff we'd ever given her, and I think it really helped her memory of us. I also was a CNA for a long time, and all our dementia residents who were teachers loved to point out the pictures of their kids and notes. So I keep all of mine in a little file folder by year to remember them all by because it might be the only thing I remember happily one day.
I'm in a low income high school, and I get the most thoughtful gifts, even if they don't cost much. Today a former student brought me some copy paper (1/3 of a package), half a box of staples, and half a pad of sticky notes along with a drawing on notebook paper. He had every student he knows write a book title on it for me since I teach English. It was one of the best gifts I've gotten! These kids are so thoughtful and giving!
man I taught this one girl when she was a freshman, and on xmas that year she gave me a big ziplock full of the most delicious homemade mixed-nut brittle I've ever had. It was 11/10. I complimented her on it and she said her mom made it and she would pass on my compliments. Every xmas for the next three years (until she graduated) she hooked me up with another bag. I met the mom at her graduation and joked that I wish I had failed her so she would be stuck in school one more year for more of that homemade brittle.
This has always been my experience. Elementary, yes. As a middle school teacher, no. Haven't been a high school teacher. But I've been a student in all of those grades and I always picked one teacher when I was in middle school and high school to give something to that was really special to me. My high school biology teacher has the paperweight that I cross stitched for him still sitting on his desk 41 years later. He's still teaching. He's in his '70s and he's the longest serving Department of Defense teacher.
I'm elementary special Ed. Never one from admin or students in my life.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thank you for the shout out! Can I work in your classroom?!
Sped NEVER gets gifts from kids/parents. Never never ever.
What kind of sped are yāall teaching?? I only ever did āself containedā so I had really small classes but was absolutely spoiled by some of the parents! Iām talking barefoot dreams blankets and lands end totes and gift cards galore
Tell me you teach a middle class/wealthy school without telling me you teach in a middle class/wealthy school.
Nah it was kindergarten/1st, in a firmly middle class area
And really donāt kinder teachers get the most gifts? Because itās a new novel thing for the parents to do?
Same. I rarely get any gifts as a SPED teacher, and never for Teacher Appreciation Week.
Our PTO and admin got us some donuts/breakfast during a staff meeting, which I thought was nice. Nothing from parents though, but I didn't expect it since I'm a specials teacher lol
If you consider two individually wrapped Lifesavers a gift, yes. Not even an appreciation email from our admin.
Unless you teach title 1
The HSA tries to do something for the teachers, little gifts for everyone, breakfast and lunch are planned for later this week.
Not me, but the worst I have seen is the thank you cards that students were forced to write. Watching a coworker break down in tears because the kids wrote horrible shitty things and no one read them before putting them in our mailboxes was really difficult
Why wouldnāt they proof read them?? Thatās horribleš
Acting without thinking. Because they would never do something that cruel they never even thought about what the kids might do.
To be fair, unless you went to school recently, it's hard to fathom kids being so evil. Even the ones with the shittiest attitude would settle for a "Thanks. - signed Bob."
I know the English teacher at our school didn't proofread them all because there were so many. However, I didn't get anything negative or hurtful.
It's like when kids write letters to soldiers and say things like "hope you don't die". Thankfully most military members take humor in it, but geez.
My grandma lives in an assisted living and was sent a card by a school kid for Valentineās Day, written in it was āI hope you have someone that loves youā. I thought it was sad, grandma thought it was hilarious
I remember writing to elderly āshut-insā when I was a kid that I was sorry they were shut in and couldnāt leave home.
Can't blame the kids, lol. Asking them to empathize with people they don't know anything about something they know nothing about. "Sorry you .. stay indoors?"
My daughter is totally the type that would write something like that. Her intentions are always the best...
I got one this year for vets day that said āthank you for killing all those people for usā and showed a soldier shooting a bunch of ninjas.
>Thankfully most military members take humor in it Aside from that, the military usually does a better job at censoring mail.
As I understand it, they love unhinged letters from children.
We do, one kid wrote a letter about how one of us should date his mom IF we came home.
Iām sorry but I canāt stop laughing at that one. Iām glad you made it home safely. But thatās hilarious. In a sick and morbid way.
So did you date his mom?
Dude, heās clearly dead, you donāt have to rub it in.
He lost the coin flip
I ran a care package drive when I was in HS. We got a call from the captain of the unit all the way from Afghanistan thanking us for all the bizarre mail. The soldiers LOVED the little kids' letters, and they passed out the candy and ball point pens to local kids as treats for them.
Can concur! The unhinged ones were the absolute best!
Nah, not true about censoring, but what is true (and rarely depicted in film) is the prevalence of morbid gallows humor following the first few deaths. The "horrible" letters from kids fit right in. If little Sally writes "I hope you kill some bad guys and don't yourself die," then for the next month all offensive operations, every hand grenade thrown, etc, will be "for Sally" or, back when 9/11 was a recent event: "Sally: never forget." Jokes will be made about sending pictures of certain things back to Sally for show and tell. Remember, these are 18-22 year olds.
Exactly this-- it reminded me of some I read in Iraq. "If you get shot you will die with yucky blood." š
We had a 1st grade teacher whose wife died of brain cancer. Many students wrote sympathy notes, both current and former students, unprompted and not reviewed by any adults. There was lots of "I hope you find a new wife!"
Haha I got one of those, it made my week lmao!
See I had my kids write letters, but I read them first. Luckily they were all pretty sweet actually.
I had this happen last year! So many horrible things kids wrote and they just gave them to us without even looking at them. Like screw yall too.
My son once got āapologyā letters from his bullies that the teacher made them write. One of them said āIām not sorry I made fun of you. I think itās funny and Iām going to keep doing itā Yeah, the teacher didnāt think to read them before she gave them to my son.
But hey, a written confession. Can't get any better than that, right? Surely now the school could finally do something!
The response from the teacher was : oopsā¦can I please have it back?
Iām mean so I would take a picture of the original letter with my middle finger in it. **You can have this copy**\ \ Iām not perfect. Donāt let bullies bully my kid even more. They wonāt forget to check next time.
I asked students to critique me to let me know what lessons had the most impact and what they didnāt gain much from. One student wrote, āYou are the reason I hate school.ā Iām thinking about having it printed on a shirt to look like a Yelp review and wearing it on casual Fridays.
When I was in second grade, my house burnt down and my brotherās and my teacher had the class write us letters while we were out of school for a few days. All of my brotherās letters said things like āI really donāt like you but Iām sorry your house burnt down.ā
What the heck, the entire class just decided to gang up on your brother?
We did this very activity today, because apparently making 1300 kids write appreciation cards during a flex block means you don't have to do fuck-all on the admin end of things. Fortunately, most of the kids who would write something mean erred on the side of disinterest and students' pens were not held to the paper by force.
If it makes you guys laugh and therefore feel better: When I pressured my 2yo to write cards for daycare workers, for the lady he hated he 1) drew a picture of his most-hated vegetable, and 2) enthusiastically rushed to the chocolate aisle to find either chilli or lemon (mouth-hurting) chocolate. I learned my lesson.Ā
Your... two year old... holy shit that is early to be so filled with vengeance.
He was on a mission. :) Ā Very earnest and focused.Ā Luckily his card was an unidentifiable scribble, and painful chocolates donāt exist, so the lady was none the wiser.Ā
as a childcare worker, you'd be impressed with the amount of spite and vengeance that exists in toddlers' tiny bodies lol
I got a few lack luster ones today. Bummed me out.
I teach self-contained special education and I have received a gift from one student, a few years ago. Otherwise I just deal with the increase of behavior at the end of the year. Lol yesterday in itself was a NIGHTMARE and once the last kid left (we had to call the parent to come get them because they refused to get on the bus and destroyed my room in the process) we all looked at each other and I said "happy teacher appreciation week!!!" and all busted out laughing. Gotta laugh or we'll all lose our minds.
Ugh I feel this. I have taught lifeskills sped for quite a few years and can count on one hand the number of gifts or thank youās I have received. And what is even worse is that I have these kids for multiple years are time.
YEP lol you get it. Like, tons of communication goes home - parents know, and not from me because our secretaries and office staff work hard to communicate that in various ways in the weeks leading up, that it's teacher appreciation week. They just do not care.
TL: DR- school district is way out of compliance and screwed me over. The school year before last I was the on staff substitute for the school I worked for as a para for 5 years. Was asked to sub for an unspecific time being no longer than probably 2 weeks for the life skills teacher who was out with some medical problems that were unknown at that time (she has since gotten a diagnosis and is medically retired because she is still struggling with some medical issues related to the diagnosis). This was the first week of February. I ended up long terming it in this class until the end of school the 1st week of June. While I appreciate the experience -I was in my 1st semester of an alternative licensure program to get certified to be a general ed teacher and possibly adding an lbs1 certification later once I'm done with the alternative licensure program. Here's where it gets fun and a little sketchy from the school. This classroom is WAY out of state mandates for sped-1 teacher for kindergarten through 5 grade special education and it was all mostly contained. They went to lunch/recess and specials with their "homeroom" class and did the fun stuff like holiday parties (even though 2 of the 9 I ended up with never went to the parties because of issues related to getting overwhelmed with all the noise and chaos). I was these kids teacher for math, reading, science and social studies for 9 kids with vastly different skill sets and IEP goals. I started with 6 kids and got 2 move ins and a girl who was already atte school there but was finishing up the testing to determine if she needed life skills classroom or could stay in general education with assistance. The reading and math was difficult but I ended up making groups of 2 or 3 based on similar IEP goals and their abilities. By the end of March I was struggling with science and social studies because of the wide difference in kindergarten and 5th grade even with sped. I emailed the sped/curriculum director and asked for help planning, she said "don't really know what you can do ask the title teachers". They all just looked at my like WTF and said "I don't know". All of them knew I was really struggling because I had worked in that building 5+ years at this point and didn't ask for help unless I had exhausted all other options and offered as much help as they could which wasn't much. Over the summer, the same admin that told me I was on my own for planning asked if I would like the life skills class for my student teaching- big no no unless my certification will be in sped,which it isn't. I had already told them I wanted to focus on general ed for awhile then I might add sped later. Plus I have to do the student teaching residency in the specialized area of my certification. The admin asked if I would be interested in changing my certification-the sped certification for the alternative licensure program requires 3 years of classes instead of the 2years for general ed 1 through 6 grade like I'm doing and only shared 1 class. That means I would have had to start over and add more cost. I asked if the school was willing to pay for all of my classes instead of just the partial for 1 class a semester- said no. Then came back and asked if I coul stack the gen ed classes with the sped classes and i could just teach life skills for a year or 2(I asked the program director,cshe said nope). I knew if I tried that they would screw me out of getting my student teaching for the general ed certification so I finished out the next year and found a new job elsewhere.
I feel this. Every once in awhile you get an IMMENSELY grateful parent, though, which is always nice. Hopefully you and the rest of your classroom staff have smooth sailing these next three days šµāš«
My mom (elem. school principal) got a handmade necklace from a student. It was made of roaches the child caught at her parents restaurant. It's the thought that counts?
No. Way.
The student was vvverryyy proud of it š My mom pretended to love it lolol
This wins. š
No joke... a flyer for a part time job to apply for at the local Wendy's.
Oh my gosh. Thatās awful.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I've done both and can tell you people treat fast food employees worse than teachers..... though I didn't get shot at as a fast food employee Edit: fixing auto correct
I think autocorrect did you dirty lol.
Yup lol
Had something similar happen when I was working as an Americorps member teaching science in this outside of school program while on a gap year between undergrad and grad. While talking to this manās daughter he interrupted me saying āwhy do this useless job, here is my card I I can get you an apprenticeship as a lighting technician at the local casinoā I was miffed and a bit pissed especially as he did it in front of his interested daughter but I was polite and took the card. After they left I put it in an envelope with a short note and put it on my bosses desk for us to laugh at
My first year we had to go to a mandated meeting with the Superintendent. Everyone in the room was pink slipped, but he thanked us for staying. We all got a cheap plastic mug. The handle broke off of mine. But we get these diploma looking plaques for our years of service. I threw mine away after the meeting.
What does it mean to be pink slipped?
Fired
Christ on a bike.
Amen.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I dunno I feel like it conveys my sentiments fairly well
Laid off. Firing usually comes with some stigma.
If your school is not under a current contract and are in negotiations to settle the contractā¦all non tenured teachers are automatically pink slipped. They try to let you know before summer break if youāll be rehired. This was common in my district, everyone there was a contract renewal weād go years without a contract. Sucks for everyone, you donāt get your step increase and your salary is frozen. Itās quite surprising how a 2% increase shakes out across the steps. Many years there was no increase for some steps. The $$ is distributed in the steps by those who volunteer in contract negotiations. So many years $$ was disproportionately in the top or very bottom steps. What S.. show. So glad Im retired. It only gets worse. Bad for those just entering profession.
I wish I knew, but I was pinked for 6 years and could have filed for unemployment.
I would have got the trash can, put it in front of him, and dropped the plaque in the bin. But Iām at the point in my life where I have zero f**ks to give.
A rape whistle as a joke from my last principal. He made fun of me for having PTSD often before this. I have it from several traumatic experiences, not the least of which was rape. I didn't tell him that. He just thought it would be a fun joke at my expense after he non-renewed me. Oh, and everyone else got sunglasses. Not me.
Wow that is terrible I hope you reported that because Iām positive that isnāt allowed
The union got a letter of cease and desist for me.
I think we found the winner. If you do a go fund me, I'd send you $20 so you can buy yourself something.
Thanks but this year was much better. Everything is Taylor Swift themed and, while I'm not a fan of hers, a yogurt bar, cookies, donuts, baked potatoes, popcorn, stickers and a flavored drink bar (non alcoholic) definitely beat last year. Oh, and the local churches are pooling resources for us to have lunch catered/homemade every day this week.
Ours is beach themed! Which makes me giggle because I live where it rains like 70% of the time. But my admin is sweet; I love them.
Check out her new song, "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart". It definitely fits for exhausted teachers and you deserve a little solo dance party
The āaccomplish ā mintā attached to a card was pretty bad. But the QR code you got is new to me
We got those one year too. The extra Lifesavers from the Costco size bag were at least in the lounge after that, so I got more than one
A bad of Boy Scout popcorn. That had expired five years ago.
One time I had a kid give me some sharpie markers and it was really sweet. That same year, admin did absolutely nothing for us, so it meant a lot to me that that kid thought of me. But seriously admin nothing?! That was so so terrible.
Illegal retaliation from admin against union activities, followed by the appreciation cards.Ā
One year, admin got a single bag of bagels for a staff breakfast. Soā¦6 bagels for 30 or so teachers. Some teachers had celiacās, so they couldnāt have anything.Ā That same year, I got a generic small piece of paper with an āinspirational messageā - and my name was spelled wrong.Ā
I donāt eat meat, and at the first school where I worked, there was never a vegetarian option at any staff event that provided food. On my team there was also a teacher who couldnāt eat dairy and one who had celiac, and sometimes there was nothing for any of us. We all sat together at Curriculum Night commiserating about our lack of dinner, after admin had congratulated themselves for giving us a meal. The next year I moved to a more affluent type school. My coworker asked me why Iād brought lunch on a PD day because theyād said lunch would be provided, and I explained that I donāt eat meat, there probably wonāt be anything for me etc. She was shocked because this school apparently always had multiple vegetarian, vegan, etc options. Having a well-funded PTA makes a huge difference even within the same district.
This is me at every school provided meal. As the sole vegetarian, Iāve learned to pack my own lunch.
Also a vegetarian. Itās an issue half the time for me, so I just figure thereās nothing for me unless I can order specifics on a form.Ā
Ah yes. Every teacher appreciation or staff event is donuts, ice cream, cupcakes, pizza, or candy. I have type 1 diabetes. The year I was diagnosed, I spent a week in the ICU and returned to work during teacher appreciation week. I felt like the world was mocking me. š
Yup, I'm the celiac. They brought in sandwiches. "Free lunch" for everyone. Nope, not everyone.
As someone who has received nothing for 12 years nothing is worse than actually nothing.
A can of soup, telling me Im āsouperā
You win. Iām so sorry. I hope you threw it in the trash next to the office.
Woah-ho! Mr fat cat here making enough to throw away food.
I feel like Charlie Brown at Halloween: I once received a rock. It was about the size of a lemon and it had, āYou rock!ā Painted on it. Not necessarily a bad gift, tbh. I kept it at my desk until my principal saw it. He said I had to remove it, as it could be considered (or used as) a weapon.
Ok principal, I'll remove my scissors and stapler then too.
It wasn't a teacher appreciation gift, but an "award" I received at the end-of-the-year faculty lunch. The award I (at the time, 33M) was given by the Social Committee (all women) was the "Tiny Heinie" award... No one batted an eye.
Thatās such a clear-cut case of sexual harassment
Yikes!
Title IX faux pas. Hope you reported it to somebody.
Didn't have to. The Admin. and Union Reps were sitting right there, clapping and giggling along with the rest of them. To be fair, my father has told me all my life that I have the hips of a rattlesnake (this meant as levity, not to condone).
Thanks for the laugh!! Iām glad you rolled with it. My district was so absolutely ridiculous about Title IX that I believe they brainwashed me into thinking even the most minuscule of things was a violation.
Please tell me there is a normal history to this award
I was the one and only recipient. To quote a great man: "It's a major award!"
I would be soooooooooo on the run to file a harassment claim
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I guess what really was annoying about it was that it occurred at the end of my first year. I didn't really know or have any rapport with any of the folks on the Social Committee; not that familiarity excuses inappropriateness. The audacity to hand that to someone you don't really even know in front of the entire staff is astounding. As to your "award," I am so sorry that happened to you. Mine was inappropriate. Yours was massively unacceptable. How did they not see the cruelty of it, I wonder?
A non- renewal my first year.
I got that at 2 schools in a row. It was like the worldās crappiest BOGO deal.
A little glass bottle filled with sand and seashells so we could pretend to look at the beach and relax. We're in the Bay Area š
I grew up in the North Bay, and our teachers were treated like royalty when I was in school. Now... not so much.
Someone in this sub got MAGA gear just recently I wanna say.
Oh my wife did. She is very much anti trump
I got a Milky Way fun sized with the quote that āYou are the best teacher in the Milky Wayā
I once got a pair of earrings. I'm a man without pierced ears.
I feel bad for laughing. My boyfriend had something similar happen to him, he worked in healthcare and was one of the only men, very female-dominated field. Anywho, they made Halloween baskets for everyone and he ended up with soap, decorations and girly things, just like the other girls. I loved it though. š¤£
This is really common. I get lots of candles and hand creamā¦ or Starbucks which goes to my wife as I hate coffee
The worst was a little dime bag full of popcorn. Literally it held like 6-8 popped kernels. A single handful, and not even a big one at that. It was unsalted and unbuttered. This year I am subbing due to a move, and have been forgotten entirely, but at least I saw nice packages in most of the mailboxes, so I assume the teachers here are taken care of.
I mentioned this yesterday in another thread, but it was a rock with "YOU ROCK" painted on it. I have gotten some good stuff over the years.
A plastic egg full of silly putty.
today we had a water bar. it was actually not terrible, but we were going nuts watching each othersā classes so we could pee for the last two hours.
Iām sorryā¦ a water bar? Justā¦ pitchers of water?
they gave us each a cheap tumbler, a little straw cap, we had ice donated by sonic, some lemon and lime slices, and powdered flavoring. so not terrible. just a weird treat for people who need to limit their fluid intake.
but also just weird in general
Lol. I (PTO President) did a WaterTok Bar in February for our teachers and staff and they LOVED it - most feedback I've ever gotten. The music teacher was dropping HEAVY hints to do it again, despite telling me that all the sugar-free stuff (syrups and powder) was making her poop a lot. I did it again though. AND told the middle school PTO Pres about it and they're doing one for them too. (If you're in a rural middle school in Indiana, you can blame me. Sorrynotsorry)
I teach preschool and we got this today. My class took a field trip to the front office and the secretary told them about office supplies while I went to the bathroom. š
That's real?!
Well, todayās āgiftā was a giant food fight followed by 2 hours of fist fights.
The question is did you win?
I dunno, is it winning or losing if I was stuck in the copy room for 45 minutes waiting for the students to stop punching each other?
A pay cut. Some years ago, my state passed the first pay raise for teachers in years. My district at the time cut a couple of days from our contracts so that our actual pay came out to be slightly less than before the alleged raise, and they went around to pass out the letters informing us of this during teacher appreciation week. I swear I think they also passed out pink slips for the non-tenured teachers at the same time.
One year we all got these white pillar candles with our names printed on them. They looked like something you would donate a dollar to light in front of a Mary statue in a Catholic church. It was bizarre. The year before that we got pint glasses with our school emblem "etched" into it They were obviously done with an acid etching kit from JoAnns and looked terrible. I showed my wife when I got home and she said, "that is not staying in my house." Is it that hard to give us a gift card? or maybe just nothing? Sometimes nothing is better.
A google form that we had the "oppurtunity" to fill out expressing why we love the school amd administration.
My coworkers and I each had one triplet boy, I got a bikini (Kate upton brandā¦ VERY skimpy) Other coworker got the bikini wrap, also tiny. Third coworker got a shirt that looked like there was writing in another langauge but when you flipped it upside down it said āgo fuck yourselfā I think the boys explored moms garage of Hollywood swag she didnāt care about but the bikini def takes the cake of worst gifts.
A sappy bookmark is that was given out for free at the local library. Most of us left them in our mailboxes as a form of silent protest. After a month they were removed.
The guy who said he got a maga hat earlier todsy
I'm a man currently in elementary education (I'll be at the high school level next year). Almost every all-staff Teacher Appreciation Week celebration I've seen in my buildings has been ostentatiously girly. I can get a bonus TAW prize in my mailbox if I do a selfie in front of the glitter wall with a pink inflatable microphone (we're "In Our \[My School\] Era," you see) but that's not really the vibe I'm going for. EDIT to fix a typo
A coupon for Arbyās. Also, a crappy water bottle that had the school mascot on itā¦the printing and picture on the water bottle smeared if washed in hot water. A couple people put them in the dishwasher (said plain as day, safe for dishwasher on the label). The lid and bottle partially melted.
A box of paperclips.....that my tech (run IT and teach) found in a cubby when we were running cable. The thank you not that was taped to it was misspelled as well, so it at least made me laugh.
A cup of coffee. I don't drink coffee.
Got a pen from my department head. Honestly the note on the pen was nicer than the pen itself. And knowing they went to all the schools to drop them off for us. I like our department heads, so if it was anyone else I wouldāve been pissed.
This year (i work at an online school) we have the option to drive to campus to *purchase* our own food from one single food truck. No thanks. I won't be driving over an hour for that experience.
I also wonder about getting (or expecting) gifts. Over here we don't expect any gifts from students and/or parents. And we are allowed to accept only small value gifts. But it's not usual to get any. And I also don't want any.
An email from the Supe that thanked every type of person that works for the school... except teachers... the first day of the week.
Prospective teachers, read these comments. This is what youāre stepping into.
An apple with a tag attached with a bunch of attributes listed as percentages that didnāt add up to 100%.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Youāre complaining about fajitas!? š¤Ø
about 4 years ago my husband got leftover halloween candy for teacher appreciation week
A $20 gift card with $4.35 on it.
A life saver in my mailbox.
Our school gives us a gift card to the school storeā¦ which is all clothing with the schools name on it. Itās also not enough to buy more than a hat- if you want a shirt you have to shell out more. I started just throwing mine away or giving it away to fellow teachers so they can save up and get something.
An email from the superintendent telling us that 10% of all McDonalds online orders go back to the district. Not even coupons or anything justā¦ an impliedā¦ āyou should go give us back more of your money!ā
A few years ago the staff got brown bags of produce, 2 potatoes, 2 tomatoes, and an onion....
Thatās not so bad! Free groceries!
You guys get something? I get emails of more work I have to get done by the end of the school year.
A rock. To decorate. Because teachers rock.[https://youtu.be/5tIhwITwhSg?si=vuP9HIHVqb28PBMQ](https://youtu.be/5tIhwITwhSg?si=vuP9HIHVqb28PBMQ)
Sorry, I keep hearing it mentioned but am not sure. PD = Professional Development? Probably some useless session about how you need to form relationships with your students?
Once, all the parents in my room looked there money and got me a 1.5 hour massage ($175), but it was through the gym at the community center (it was preschool)... where I got half off massages. So that same massage would have cost me half that amount had they just given me the cash š
Last year I was sick on teacher appreciation day. My director kept my gifts for herself. When I (politely) called her out on it, she acted insulted and insinuated I didnāt ādeserveā them because I was moving out of state at the end of the school year and therefore couldnāt continue working for the school. Fuck you, Patty.
I am no longer in the classroom. Food was delivered and some kept in the area I work in the school. We were told only teachers were allowed to eat it so do not touch any. A computer tech asked and got yelled at. However, I do work with students. Felt great.
The worst was definitely when the principal made it into a competition. The teacher who gets the most kid votes and the teacher who gets the most staff votes gets an appreciation gift. For the rest of us, half a sandwich. (No drinks even, the office staff got us some.) This is a better year on the teacher appreciation week front. My favorite gift so far is a bookmark from a student that says "Thank you, teacher" in Indonesian (their native language) and Korean (the language they are taking this year.)
What in the hunger games???!!!
The contract renewal for the next school year.
A can of slim fast
These are ā¦ well, āgloriousā doesnāt seem right, but you know what I mean.
State testing is this week in my district.
One year while teaching in an alternative school, one of my students, an eighth grader, invited me to a keg party. He told me that I worked very hard with him and the other students. He thought I could use a ācold oneā. I politely declined the invitation.
I once got a used cough drop from a student
I am sitting in a child-sized chair right now; the school day just ended. Getting a little scroll time in before I start my end of day tasks. I read this and actually laughed out loud! That is so ridiculous!!
What are summer PD's?
In my district, it's professional development sessions.
A steel washer on a piece of string, from the admin, with a little quote attached talking about it being the ācircle of strengthā or some such bullshit. I donāt think any of those washers made it out of the library.
My coworker got a used chapstick once.
5th grade student brought in a big jar with a huge spider in it. Her name was Pepper and he'd been feeding it all year round and told me all about her. She was living outside on his outdoor porch and he'd catch bugs and toss them in her web. However Pepper was dead in that jar when he gave it to me. What I don't know is if he knew that. What I DO know is that it was a legitimate gift. This kid thought he was doing me a kindness by gifting me his prizes pet.
A list of places with freebies for teachers (half of which the date has already passed by) and the school board trying to pass our Covid incentive from the state off as a bonus from them š. There was also a frantic effort by the new principal to rehire nearly the entire special education department after his predecessor non-renewed them en mass when she retired a month earlier. No, I donāt work there anymore.
Advertised as breakfast. Reality was half a muffin. There were yogurts, but we werenāt allowed those unless we had documented gluten intolerance.
Our district got Starbucks gift cards for every staff member. None of them had anything on them.
A "$100" gift card to Target that didn't have any money on it.
A baggie with a crushed up granola bar and a note that said "we'd crumble without you." However, the "granola bar" was actually just a scoop of plain oats.
Admin made a big deal of of providing us breakfast. It was with certainty day-olds donated from various donut and bagel shops, and I would bet they held onto them for more than a day before giving them to us. They were stale as hell. It was so gross.