Teacher Appreciation Week

National Teacher Appreciation Week is May 7th through the 11th, a week dedicated to the celebration of your favorite teachers. It is a week in which you can show your appreciation of the knowledge you have acquired over the years thanks to teachers who have impacted your life now and in the past.

History of National Teacher Day

National Teacher Day started around 1944 when a Arkansas teacher named Mattye Whyte Woodridge began corresponding with political and education leaders about the need for a national day of honor. Woodbridge wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt, who in 1953 persuaded the 81st Congress to proclaim a National Teacher Day.

The NEA (National Education Association) lobbied Congress to create a national day to celebrate teachers. Congress declared March 7, 1980, as National Teacher Day for that year only. Then it was changed to the Tuesday of the first full week of May. The actual date, therefore, varies from year to year.

How to Celebrate

It’s great to recognize a teacher during National Teachers Appreciation Week but, another great way to celebrate is to learn more about teaching as a profession and its merits worldwide. There is always a shortage of teachers somewhere and the biggest gift you can give a former teacher is by becoming a teacher and passing on the knowledge they passed to you. Teaching is a wonderful, fulfilling, challenging and dynamic profession that you can continue to grow in.

Teacher appreciation week is the perfect time of the year to take a moment to show your appreciation for all the efforts they put in each day to teach and for the education that we receive thanks to them.

So when you see a teacher, give them a shout-out to let them know what they do matters.