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Looking Forward
to Monday Morning:

End-of-Year Praise
and Appreciation

How you end the school year is as
important as how you begin it. Staff
members need to leave feeling proud,
appreciated, and motivated so they
come back with excitement next year.
Following are a few ideas for ending the
year on an upbeat note.

DARE TO DREAM

[content block] Give each staff person a questionnaire that provides them an opportunity to tell what they need or would like to make their job easier or to be more effective. Staff members can wish for supplies, books, decorations, and so on. Then make every effort to have 2 or 3 of the things on their lists in time for the new school year.

END-OF-YEAR MEETING

Schedule a 10-15 minute meeting with each staff member. (Don't forget the snacks!) Be sure to tell each staff member why he or she is appreciated -- what they did to earn the appreciation. Give them praise, kudos, and compliments for specific actions performed during the year.

TOKENS OF APPRECIATION

You might provide appreciation items you have picked up from companies such as Positive Promotions.

END-OF-YEAR TREATS

Prepare motivational treats for the staff. Put a treat in each person's mailbox each day during the final week of school. They will look forward to their daily surprise. Some of the items you might include are:

• A small package of Pringles with a note about how they've made a big difference this year by "chipping" in as part of the team.
• A certificate to a restaurant such as Perkins with an appropriate tongue twister such as Pause the pandemonium. Picky practitioners prefer Perkins (particularly the pastries)
• A prepackaged snack cake with nuts and a note that says something like Here is a little something sweet to help you through the last few "nutty" days of the school year.
• A small bottle of orange juice with this knock-knock joke:

  Knock, knock.
  Who's there?
  Orange.
  Orange who?
  Orange you glad the year is almost over?

• Small neon-colored note pads with a note that says We "note"iced all of your hard work this year. Thanks!
  Contributed by Phineas Davis Elementary School, York, Pennsylvania

  GRIN AND SHARE IT

  It was the end of the school year and a kindergarten teacher was receiving gifts from her students.

  The florist's son handed her a gift. She shook it, held it overhead, and said, "I'll bet I know what it is. Is it flowers?"

  "That's right," the boy said, "but how did you know?"

  "Oh, just a wild guess," she replied.

  The next student was the daughter of a sweet shop owner. The teacher held her gift overhead, shook it, and said, "I'll bet I know what this is. Is it a box of sweets?"

  "That's right, but how did you know?" asked the girl.

  "Oh, just another wild guess," said the teacher.

  The next gift was from the son of a liquor store owner. The teacher held the gift overhead and noticed that it was leaking. She touched a drop of the liquid with her finger and then touched it with her tongue.

  "Is it wine?" she asked.

  "No," the boy replied with some excitement.

  The teacher repeated the process, taking a larger drop of the leakage on her tongue.

  "Is it champagne?" she asked.

  "No," the boy replied with excitement.

  The teacher took one more taste before declaring, "I give up. What is it?"

  With great glee they boy replied, "It's a puppy!"

  Find more smiles, chuckles, and grins in my books Laugh Lines for Educators and Grin and Share It!

  Drive your staff happy!
  Diane

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