From used teddy bears to chipped mugs, Renee Nahayowski has received her fair share of unusual gifts from her students.
“I got a half-eaten chocolate bar once,” Nahayowski recalled Tuesday in an interview with CBC Radio’s Edmonton AM.
“With the bite marks still in it.”
With the school year coming to a close in classrooms across Edmonton, CBC News asked teachers to share suggestions on end-of-year gifts educators might actually enjoy.
Nahayowski said finding the perfect gift can prove a challenge for both frazzled parents and students fixated on their summer escape from the classroom.
A K-3 teacher at St. Leo Catholic Elementary School in north Edmonton, Nahayowski has received some real doozies from well-intentioned pupils.
‘You treasure it just the same’
Hastily-wrapped personal hygiene items have left her scratching her head — and pinching her nose, more than once.
“Getting the perfume from Dollarama always makes people giggle,” she said. “The scents are not something the teachers would necessarily pick out for themselves.
“I got a set of Dollarama toothbrushes one time and I wasn’t sure if that was a hint.”
Nahayowski doesn’t complain. She loves getting gifts from her kids, even if they do join her unwanted collection of cheap perfume.
“If it’s something like that, you treasure it just the same,” Nahayowski said.
“There are so many things that are so sweet that we do love to get. It’s hard to say what we don’t.”
You treasure it just the same but it goes in the garbage fairly fast.– Michelle Milot
Michelle Milot, a Grade 2 teacher at St. Leo Catholic Elementary, is less sentimental.
“You treasure it just the same but it goes in the garbage fairly fast,” she said.
Milot said educators love feeling appreciated by their students, but some gifts have become the stuff of legend around the teachers’ lounge.
“One of our colleagues got a Starbucks gift card that was used and there was like $2.95 left on it. Just ridiculous,” she said.
Less chocolate, more wine
If parents want to show appreciation with a gift teachers might actually use, Milot has some suggestions.
Hint: novelty mugs are not on her list.
Despite the infamous used Starbucks coffee card, the Grade 2 teacher does recommend gift cards.
Food and drink, in moderation, are always safe bets, she said.
“Cool it on the chocolate. It’s appreciated but a box of 200 is not going to get eaten,” Milot said.
“I had a couple of parents ask, do you drink wine? And I’m like, ‘Well I’m a teacher so I definitely do,’ so that’s a nice thing.”
Even as her desk is drowning in novelty mugs and candy bars, Milot is grateful for the generosity of her students, and their families.
Her favourite gift so far was a letter.
The parents of one of her students wrote to the school and thanked her for making their daughter feel welcome during her first year in Canada.
“It took some time, they put some thought into it and you can tell that they cared,” Milot said.
“I will treasure that forever. That was so special.”