Davis PTA celebrates teacher and staff during Appreciation Week

By Isabelle Chen,
HUB Staff Writer–

Each school year, the month of May marks more than Advanced Placement testing and preparing for graduation. It is also a time to celebrate the teachers and staff of the Davis Joint Unified School District. Monday, May 6 marked the beginning of Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week at Davis High.

Lori Schilling-Davis is in charge of the hospitality branch of the DJUSD Parent-Teacher Association. According to her, the PTA is changing a few things this year in terms of celebrating the DHS faculty.

All week, she drew names of teachers, paraeducators, custodial staff and campus supervisors and presented them with raffle prizes ranging from homemade food to beauty products to gift cards. This has been a long-standing tradition for the PTA: however, this year, the organization welcomed student volunteers from the DHS Climate Committee to help out. The students wrote a thank-you note to accompany the gifts, and delivered raffle prizes to the faculty every day during lunch.

Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week culminated on Friday, May 10, with a barbecue during lunch. On this day, the student volunteers delivered barbecue meals to teachers who had to remain in their classrooms during lunch.

Schilling-Davis enjoys Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week particularly because she loves seeing how gratified the faculty members feel.

“My favorite part is seeing the smiles on the faces of the teachers and staff as we present them with gifts,” Schilling-Davis said. “I also enjoy chatting with them at the barbecue.  They are ever so grateful for the small things we do to make them feel appreciated!”

Fern O’Brien was pleasantly surprised when, on Monday, May 6, student volunteers came into her classroom during lunchtime and presented her with a gift from the PTA: the student-written thank-you note and a box of homemade fudge.

“To know that others have gone out of their way to acknowledge all our hard work is very rewarding in itself,” O’Brien said. “The yummy desserts always add a special boost to my afternoon too!”

Based on her observations as a parent, O’Brien finds that appreciation gifts are generally much more common for primary school teachers than for secondary teachers.

“There is no expectation on the part of secondary teachers to receive anything; in fact, when some sort of token is received, it is a distinct pleasure to be considered and quite a treat,” O’Brien said. “Overall, as a teacher who gives their utmost to 160 students a day, it is gratifying and soothing to be pampered once in a while by the PTA. Unexpected tokens are a sure way to brighten a teacher’s day!”