Honoring the Heart of Pacific Prep: Our Amazing Teachers
Teacher Appreciation Week at Pacific Prep was all about meaningful gestures and personal touches. Our team created daily surprises, including virtual goodies, family shoutouts, and a wellness workshop, to celebrate the amazing teachers who make our school community shine.
Across schools, homes, and administrative offices nationwide, teachers are quietly thanked every day. But the first full week of May gives us a special chance to make that gratitude loud, visible, and heartfelt. Given the ongoing challenges educators face, from underfunding and teacher shortages to widening achievement gaps, this year’s Teacher Appreciation Week felt more important than ever.
At Pacific Preparatory, I have the privilege of managing, coaching, and supporting our incredible team of more than 160 teachers. They make it easy. With their kindness, flexibility, and commitment to growth, they are truly the heart of our school. So this year, our admin team set out to make Teacher Appreciation Week reflect the same personalized, thoughtful approach we bring to our students.
We didn’t want this to be just another week of generic gift cards and thank-you notes. We wanted to create moments that felt as special and individualized as our teachers. Here’s how we did it:
Monday: Sprucing Up Spaces
We kicked off the week by helping our teachers freshen up their virtual and physical workspaces. I designed a set of custom virtual Zoom backgrounds, while Mel, our COO, supplied motivational posters for their home offices. After some testing and tweaking, we sent out laminated posters and digital backgrounds, giving our teachers new ways to make their teaching spaces feel cozy, inviting, and uniquely theirs.
Tuesday: Raffle Day Fun
Tuesday brought one of my personal favorites, Raffle Day. Each teacher received three raffle tickets to distribute among four carefully curated prize buckets. We made sure the prizes were both fun and functional, including a DoorDash gift card, ergonomic mouse, writing/drawing tablet, and an HD webcam.
Wednesday: Midweek Pick-Me-Up
On Wednesday, every teacher received a gift card to either Bookshop.org or Dunkin. Because really, what’s Teacher Appreciation Week without at least one good cup of coffee or a new book to dive into?
Thursday: Messages from the Heart
Our pièce de résistance was Thankful Thursday. We invited families and students to share messages on a virtual wall of appreciation. Thanks to our amazing families, we were able to compile two beautiful digital walls overflowing with gratitude, which we then shared with our teachers. The messages were heartfelt, personal, and reminded all of us why we do what we do.
Friday: A Well-Deserved Reset
We closed the week with a virtual wellness workshop led by a certified yoga instructor, offering our teachers a chance to unwind, recharge, and breathe before the busy end-of-year stretch kicks in.
This week was truly the highlight of my semester. I’m so grateful for this community of bright, creative, and dedicated educators. Thank you for all you do, I can’t wait for another year of learning and growing together.
-Karen Annell