Holiday Gifts for teachers

I am one of three room parents for my son's kindergarten class. Since we are in a Chinese Immersion Program, we have two teachers. Both the kindergarten and1st grade class (my daughter is in the 1st grade Chinese Immersion Program) share the same two teachers.

This year, the 1st grade room parents and I decided to combine our respective classes holiday contributions and get gift cards for the teachers.

Guess how much we collected? $600! That's $300 per teacher. I am really excited, because we all know that teachers are sorely underpaid. There is one teacher in particular who is always at our school. I remember seeing her after a PTA meeting (and it was way after 8:30pm) at school. I am amazed at how much time teachers actually spend at their jobs.

What amazes me more is the incredible generosity from the parents. I didn't ask for a particular amount, but left it up to each family to donate as little or as much as they'd like.

One family in particular has fallen on hard times, but the mom came up to me and gave me a contribution. I can tell that she was embarrassed by the amount that she gave me (a bag of 7 quarters), and actually started to tear up and said that she wished she could have given more. I told her that her donation was incredibly generous and gave her a smile (I really was trying to keep from tearing up in front of her).

I know that Christmas can be an incredibly commercialized and materialistic time, but it's people like that particular mom that has restored my faith in the season.