Creative Ways to Celebrate Your Staff Virtually

This year, your teachers have gone above and beyond the call of duty time and time again. Between the normal hustle and bustle of returning to school at the beginning of the year, never wavering from their commitment to their students, to working all summer to prepare for a new school year unlike any other, and then showing up every day support, inspire and encourage their students, every educator deserves a double round of applause this year.

Unfortunately, in-person gestures of teacher appreciation are not always assessible. But just because you can't always say 'thanks' in person, doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate your staff and let them know how much you value them and their hard work this year. Here are some fun ways to give your staff a special thank you:

Education for teachers

Teachers are excellent at their jobs, but they may be in need of some help on topics outside of the scope of education, like personal finance, stress management, or nutrition. Look for the opportunity to invite an expert that can help your teachers learn something themselves to host a webinar or virtual lunch and learn. Be careful not to provide an outlet for a sales pitch, though.

Gift cards for services

Everyone could use an extra hour in the day, but there isn’t a teacher out there who wouldn’t love just a little more in their day. You can’t make their students angels, and you probably can’t get around contractual obligations, but you can find inexpensive ways to give them more free time during their off hours by providing gift cards to services they need, like dinner from a local restaurant, laundry from the local dry cleaners or a car wash from the local detail shop. The vendors might be able to give you a good rate in return for the added exposure of having 100-plus teachers come through their doors and a possible shout-out in your school newsletter or message board. Bonus: it's a great way to support local business!

Virtual group activities

Teachers often don’t have time to gather together without schoolwork looming over them, neverminded gathering in person isn’t always an option anyway. In place usual holiday parties, birthday celebration, or happy hour, and turn it into a fun virtual group activity. Hosting a virtual game night, virtual lunch and learn, or even a weekly trivia game is a great way to keep everyone connected and have a little non-work-related fun. It’s not only teacher appreciation—it’s team building.

Public acknowledgment

When teachers are teaching from home, there are not as many opportunities to see their colleagues really shine. Publicly appreciating your staff, via a post from your school social account, an email blast, or just an old-fashioned shout out during the next all staff virtual meet-up, is great way to show that even when you are apart, you still see the incredible things they are doing, you still see that they are making a difference, and you appreciate and value how hard they are working.

At Edmentum, we value the hard work that teachers and administrators put into every school year. Be sure to keep an eye out for our annual Educator Appreciation Giveaway and don't miss our 2021 Inspiring Educator Awards!