Pooling money vs. small teacher gift

amother

OP ↓

Today at 10:41 am

Curious as to other opinions.
I’m both a teacher and a mother at the school I work at. Every Chanukah, the PTA tries to collect money from everyone, pool it together, and give it out to all of the staff (not just teachers). I think it’s a beautiful idea, especially because it removes the hassle from the parents, and the support staff in the school get to be recipients as well, unlike the other scenario. I’m pretty sure they give out a card that has all the names of all the parents in the school who participated. As a teacher, The thought is super sweet, but I’m not looking through the note to see who in my class did and did not give.
I realized this year that I want my kids teachers to know how much I appreciate them, and I want them to know that I got something for them. So instead of being part of the group gift, this year, I’m doing my own gifts. Financially, I’m assuming it’s going to be about the same, I have to get a lot of very cheap gifts plus thank you cards etc. It’s not a headache for me because I enjoy doing it.

Should I feel bad that I’m not participating in the PTA thing? It’s a nice idea in theory but basically the teachers have no idea who gave money…

MiracleMama

Today at 10:50 am

amother OP wrote:

My honest opinion. The thought is so nice, but I'd rather have an extra $5 or $10 cash than some junk. Give with the PTA. Then write a thoughtful note to each teacher and you will accomplish your goal.

amother

↑ OP

Today at 10:56 am

The PTA gift is in form of a gift card.
The point is for the teacher to feel appreciation from the child’s parents. As a teacher, I definitely remember who gives me the little cute things more than who gave money (which I never end up finding out). No one had ever given money to the PTA and sent a letter to the teacher separately- I’ve gotten little gifts with a letter or money was donated without a letter.
(I also do try to buy something useful).

amother

Tanzanite

Today at 11:36 am

Instead of collecting money, the PTA should reach out to each parent (phone call or notes) to remind them to show appreciation to their teachers but let them give their gifts on their own. As a sibling of teachers, my sisters prefer when there is no class mother but rather the parents tip on their own, because when they collect, it's about $5 per student. When the parents tip on their own, it's AT LEAST $20 or more per student, so if only half the class gives, they still end up with way more!

Also I'm sure they'd appreciate cash more than a gift card.

flowerpower

Today at 11:46 am

I would contribute to the pta over giving little chachkes. Teachers have told me that they appreciate hand written notes a ton but all the mugs, spa sets, teacher pens… are not on top of their appreciation list. You can always give something at pta or send in randomly. Its nice to just cooperate with the rest of the class.

seeker

Today at 1:44 pm

You can participate with the group and then also write a card saying that your gift was given with the group but you also want to relay your appreciation personally.

If you do prefer to go it alone and the amount you're spending is the same as you would give with the group (5? 10?) then make it a neutral gift card like Amazon or Visa (do they sell visas in small amounts? I don't know) because anything else of a $5-10 value is more likely to be annoying than enjoyable (gift card where you need to physically go to the right store to use? And then likely isn't enough to buy what you like, and maybe you don't have the freedom right now to top it up.)