Pleasant Grove High School students celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week by creating posters, writing “validation notes,” and posting them around the campus.

Aayush Raina, a sophomore and soccer player, said it is important to express gratitude to staff because it helps keep them motivated to teach. 

“It is important to recognize the staff at PG because they do so much and they receive so little,” said Raina.

Teacher Appreciation Week this year was May 1-5, but Raina believes that only a few days of validation are not enough for the hard-working staff. 

“I don’t think one week is enough,” she said. “I think we should have another staff appreciation week at the beginning of the year . . . to show them like we do not only appreciate you at the end of the year when everything is finishing, we appreciate you throughout the year.”

Raina said the school should do more to encourage students to write validation notes for teachers, which would help ensure more are recognized and not just the ones who may be more popular with students. 

“Some staff members are chill and that can easily relate with their student’s and they are often recognized more,” she said.

Thuong Pham, a sophomore student in the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program, said while she is glad Pleasant Grove celebrates staff appreciation week, teachers deserve more than posters and notes.

“Honestly we should have a more appreciative culture . . .” she said. “It never really feels like the school cares beyond surface-level acknowledgements. I have literally never heard of any teachers getting any reward. They need more support, financially, and more genuine appreciation.”