Teacher Appreciation

Well, it's done. This year, I decided to sign up to help with teacher appreciation. Since it was going to be catered by Famous Daves BBQ, the western theme would have been obvious. So, in an effort to be original, I came up with the "down home country" theme.

One of the girls on the committee made these really yummy muffins, and I put them in little birds nest baskets, tied with gingham fabric, then attached a little wrinkled tag with gromet, that read, "There's "MUFFIN" like a great teacher!" We lucked out because my sister Julie had 25 of these baskets that she just let us have (easy on the budget).

Thursday was the teacher luncheon. We had room moms come in and help with the classes so that ALL the teachers and staff could enjoy lunch together. I had all the committee members bring as much produce as they could so we could set up a little farmers market (these were supposed to be the centerpieces, but the tables were smaller than I planned). It actually turned out well. We set it all up right in front of the librarian's desk as they walked in. It added a lot of color, and transformed the room. I made little signs on skewers to make it look more like a country market.

We set up the tables in a U-shape, and lined the tables with square vases filled with popcorn seeds, with a pillar candle, and tied with ginham fabric strips. Between the vases, I covered the table with votives - 50! We turned out the lights so the table was lit with tons of candle light.

We had their place setting with cafe rio style tins (for plates), and a mason jar for a glass. I collected denim pockets, and stuffed a red napkin and untensils inside, and tied with twine.

The place setting was finished off with a home-made carmel apple. We made them earlier in the week over two days. They were gorgeous! We finished them off with a ginham ribbon, and little "thank-you" tag. It was their teacher gift, dessert, AND decoration...WIN-WIN-WIN!
The buffet table was set up on the other side of the room. Since the meat was being supplied by Famous Daves, and the salads were being made by the PTA, we bought a bunch of $1 roasting pans so they would all be uniform. We put 4 tables together like 4-square so the buffet line could be on both sides. I lined the middle with 8 glass lanterns with candles and, of course, tied with gingham. It was simple, but the color of all the food made it beautiful.

For entertainment, my sisters, Julie and Stacy wrote some new words to "Home On The Range"...

Oh, give me a school, where the teachers are cool

Where the children are happy all day

Where never is heard a discouraging word

And we learn something new everyday

Oh, how we love Valley View

Our school is second to none

We follow the rules, at this greatest of schools

And our teachers make learning so fun

The falcons soar high, in the big bright blue sky

and we always give it our best

Our great teachers we thank, no, this isn't a prank

So, please do not give us a test!

I had the student council dress in country attire, and they sang it to the teachers. It was so fun to tranform the library, and do something really special for the teachers They really appreciated it!