If there is anything that WCHS needs more of, it is teacher appreciation. According to the National School Boards Association’s Center for Public Education, only a third of teachers feel that their profession is valued in society. That is why on May 12, the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) at WCHS held a teacher luncheon commemorating the end of Teacher Appreciation Week.

The luncheon was held downstairs near the main office and was staffed by nine volunteers and two PTSA members. Food was served potluck style and consisted of donations from parents of WCHS students.

“We always assume that we’re going to have zero budget,” Sonia Verdu, the chair of the event and MCCPTA delegate, said. “It’s all about the parents getting involved and appreciating the teachers. This year, we had many diverse foods from different cultures.”

At first, Verdu was worried that there would not be enough food to cater the luncheon. However, after a last call with food requests, 30 extra parents signed up to bring dishes.

“For the first time since I’ve been doing this, we had a lot of leftovers because people donated so much,” Verdu said. “We left a good amount for the night shift so that the cleaning crew could also have some. More parents got involved this year, which allowed for more food donations, utensils, water, everything. I’d say the donations were 20% more than last year.”

While the luncheon was a success, this year’s Teacher Appreciation Week did not hit as hard as it could have. Many students were unaware that it was Teacher Appreciation Week or were not in school altogether.

“I didn’t notice a huge change in WCHS culture this year,” Stacye Steele-Yue, a WCHS Spanish teacher, said. “I do think the reason is that this year’s Teacher Appreciation week fell during the testing week. That made a huge difference.”

Teacher Appreciation Week occurs during the first full week of May each year, with National Teacher Appreciation Day falling on the Tuesday before. However, because AP exams coincided with Teacher Appreciation Week, it was not as impactful as in past years. Conversely, the annual event brings up questions about the demand for teacher appreciation week in the first place.

“To be honest, it is kind of sad that there has to be an appreciation week in general,” Steele said. “For most professions, you don’t have to have an appreciation week because you’re already appreciated, and this shows somewhat of a problem with the profession. That’s why it’s great that the PTSA does nice gestures like this to show appreciation.”

Along with PTSA-sponsored events, there are many ways for WCHS students to support their teachers. Nothing goes unnoticed, despite how little or inconsequential a gift may seem.

“Gifts don’t always have to be monetary,” Steele said. “Sometimes a kid writes you an email. That’s always nice because they thought of you enough to send it. Even a little note shows appreciation.”

Undoubtedly, students are a huge influence on the lives of teachers. Improving this experience is one of the pivotal goals of the PTSA, and Teacher Appreciation Week is crucial.

“The PTSA’s big function is to be in the middle as representatives of the parents and the community,” Verdu said. “It’s important that we work together to make WCHS the best we can, the best school we can, and to do so we need to appreciate teachers, the staff, all types of staff that work at WCHS. For us, it’s a way of saying thank you.”