The Teacher Recognition Program for the Rotary Club of Oxnard is a way to show teachers how special they are. They love to be acknowledged for their hard work and devotion to the students. The Teacher Recognition Program includes a “Basket of Goodies” which is presented to the teacher. Rotarians work in teams to create a basket full of special items for the teacher.
- Kathy Leahy has agreed to provide the 8 gift baskets. Rotary Club of Oxnard members will attend special events at the respective schools in January (1), February (1), March (2), April (2), and May (2)
- Gary Davis and Phyllis Throckmorton will oversee this special Rotary activity and will coordinate activities with the respective schools: Oxnard (Elementary) School District (4 teacher recognitions), Oxnard Union High School District (2 teacher recognitions), and Rio School District (2 teacher recognitions). Gary Davis and Phyllis Throckmorton will communicate with Ms. Su-lin Rubalcava of the County Schools Federal Credit Union to add their monetary recognition ($1,000 for 2012-13) to the teachers’ gift baskets.
TEAMS
Each team has a leader who is responsible for gathering all the items from the team members; overseeing the creation of the basket and making sure the baskets gets to the people who will present it to the teacher. The creation of the basket can be a team effort or completed by a single person. Either way – the basket should be created especially for a teacher (male or female).
BASKET ITEMS – “IDEAS”:
Candy, chocolates, popcorn, cookies, tea, coffee, wine, sparkling juice, gift cards, tickets, stationary supplies, items teachers may use in the classroom, i.e., stickers, pencils, pens, clips, deli items that have a long shelf life (watch out for perishable items if you put the basket together in advance).
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Decide what the basket ‘theme’ will be first, and purchase all the items for it. You may want to pick a theme based on the month you are assigned, i.e., New Years, Valentine’s Day, spring, Easter, etc.
- Cut 2 yards of cellophane and lay it on the table surface, right side down, and place the basket in the middle of it.
- Arrange all items inside the basket; you can place a cloth napkin or paper doily in the bottom. Ensure that breakable items are secured or wrapped in cloth or tissue to prevent breakage. Position tall items in the centre, with medium items on the outside, and small ones in between. Individually-wrapped candy sprinkled throughout the items, adds a nice sweet touch.
- Gather up the cellophane, pulling up the short sides first, then longer sides, and secure with a long twist tie. A helper is great for this step.
- Add the ribbon, making a nice bow with long curved tails. Or attach a ready-made bow. No need to remove the twist tie.
- If one of the short sides of cellophane is gaping, you may be able to adjust it by pulling gently on the top section, or secure with a small piece of clear tape.
- Resist the urge to ‘play’ with the cellophane to get it just right - the idea is to gather the cellophane which produces an array of varying sizes of cellophane ‘petals’ - a unique ‘bouquet’. If the ‘petals’ are too long for your liking, you can trim them with scissors.