Avoiding End-of-Year Teacher Gift Drama
Giving your classroom teacher an end-of-year gift is a nice and customary way to say, “Thanks for doing an awesome job.” While many people participate in this act, by no means is it required.
Many “room moms” will even collect money to purchase a group gift, which often works out to be a better deal. If each student gave $5 towards the gift, the teacher can receive quite a nice gift certificate, nearing $100 depending on the number of kids in the class. And there’s very little you can buy these days that’s nice for only $5.
I’d like to offer some tips for “room moms” who may be collecting money this year to avoid classroom drama among the parents. This is happening in my daughter’s class right now and it’s really a shame to see the pettiness of these adults.
1. Please do not require a set amount of money in your letter. Yes, it’s lovely to give the teacher a big gift but you don’t know the financial situation of the other families in that class (nor is it your business), so even asking for $10 might be a stretch for some families.
2. Expect some parents not to participate. Some parents may not like the teacher, some prefer to give their own gifts, and some may have had a bad experience that year and can’t wait to get away from the whole school environment. Whatever the reason (and again, it’s not your business), don’t hound these people and “require” them to participate. Giving a gift should always be optional.
3. Don’t penalize the kids if the parents choose not to participate. No matter how many families contribute to the gift, ALL the children should be allowed to sign the card. Or just write, “From Your Students” on the card. Preventing kids from signing when they have no control over their parents’ actions is cruel. Would you want your child left out of signing the card when they see ALL of the other “contributing” students doing so?
The end of the school year should be a time for celebrating, for acknowledging our students’ accomplishments, and for looking forward to family fun during the summer months. There shouldn’t be any room at all for parental dramas.
In the grand scheme of things, is it really that important whether 2 kids who did not contribute to the group gift get to sign the card?
I think not…
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