Teacher of the Year Reception 2014 - Chalkboard Theme

It was so exciting to have women chosen in our school system to be the "Teacher of the Year", plus the "Support Staff of the Year" to also be a woman.  This mean that I could decorate using the color PINK! :)  

One of my sisters-in-law had recently done a chalkboard theme, so I copied her idea. Chalkboards are popular, but also fun! This chalkboard paper roll came from Target.

The pink just made everything bright and happy. And since it was teacher check-out day, I'm sure EVERYONE was really happy!

 The Tipton church of Christ provided the meal for the luncheon, which was held at the fellowship building.  The menu was smoked pork loin, smoked chicken, twice baked potatoes, green beans, homemade bread, and salad.

 I couldn't get pink roses, so had to settle for pink carnations for centerpieces, but they were still beautiful!

 My husband added some artwork to one of the chalkboards. See his nice bird? He's been perfecting it since he was a young boy! :)

 For an extra POP of color, I added in one bouquet of brighter colored flowers.

 These tulips and roses are actually fake, but they look very, very real. Some thought they were!

 It was fun designing these chalkboards for each recipient.

 I think I could practice and practice and never get as profession looking as some you see.

 And that's okay.

 The chalkboard cake was so cute!  The bakery did a fabulous job, despite the fact they spelled one first name wrong. It was an easy mistake.

 A close up of the "fake", but real looking flowers.

 The gifts for each of the winners were amazing!

 We have such generous people in our community and surrounding communities!

 What a blessing!

 If you're looking for chalkboard things, Target is a must-go-to place. The banners all came from there.

Some of the young ladies from Tipton Children's Home served the teachers and staff.  Service with a smile, for sure! Of course, after they served, they were able to eat themselves. Perhaps that's why she's smiling?! Maybe so. I don't blame her one bit! :)

Teacher of the Year Reception 2013

Last Friday was the Teacher of the Year reception for our school.  

 I used a zebra print theme in black, white and red for the main table.

 Even the cake was made to match, except the decorator misunderstood that it wasn't for a graduation and added a graduation cap! That's okay.  It didn't matter because it still looked great!

On the spur of the moment, I used this teacher quote in little jars on some of the tables.  I really liked what it said.

 These are the same candles I use for church events and for a dollar each at Dollar Tree, I easily get my money's worth.  They sit inside these glass vases and look great!

Since banners are a big thing now, of course it was appropriate to make one.

It's so easy to make things on your own now.  Hobby Lobby has many ready-made things, but also the supplies to do-it-yourself and pay very little for great results!

One of the teachers honored is a fan of fishing, so his table was decorated with a fishing theme.

 Another teacher is an OU fan. She also teaches math so I put some math problems on her board.

 The support person of the year is our school nurse, who also has a lot of other duties. It was fun decorating in the nurse theme!  My husband got these crutches for a special addition.

 I used band-aids to make her name.

 My husband also got this "barf bag" for her decor!!  YUCK!!! :)

And more nursing supplies.

It's always fun decorating for the "Teacher of the Year" reception, but this year I made myself "simplify" and not go overboard.  My age is catching up to me, I think!!  I need to sleep more than I used to (haha!)  So, it wasn't as much 'decorating' as I usually would have done, but it still looked good and probably no one noticed but me.  Then it was on to the church building to decorate for VBS!  So, I'd better go for now. Classes start in an hour!

Guess Whooooo??? Teacher of the Year Reception 2012

Each May, at the end of the school year, I have the privilege of decorating for our school's "Teacher of the Year" reception.  This year I chose an owl theme for the decor.  I like putting four 6-foot tables together to make a big rectangle for this event.  It allows for plenty of room for the 100 piece cake and large punch bowl.

Because of the popularity of burlap now, I used burlap tablecloths, as well as burlap pieces on the handmade banners I created.  A big crocheted owl, an arch with hanging wooden owls (decorated with paper and burlap) stood on top of the big refreshment table.

Cutting out letters using my Cricut (I purchased it used for $50!!!) made the banner come together rather quickly.  

For this main banner, I actually bought a plain, white banner that came in a package (Hobby Lobby), then just put paper, felt, and burlap on top of it. 

The large piece of owl material over the burlap table cloth was perfect to match the other decorations.  I found it at Walmart.  The owl cake was adorable and tasted great!  It's so much fun to have everything match with the theme!

Our school has a "Teacher of the Year" winner for our public school site, as well as for the juvenile detention center that is in our school district.  Each recipient had a table decorated specifically for them. They received many gifts from a lot of businesses in our area. The owl on the right of this picture became the inspiration for the color scheme.  He was really cute!

Last year, our school also began recognizing a "support staff" person of the year and a volunteer of the year.  The support person for this year was our school custodian who has one of the very hardest jobs at the school.  Can you imagine cleaning up after hundreds of students EVERY day???!  What a big job!  Nancy does it wonderfully!  The stuffed burlap owls on this table were handmade and painted by me.

Congratulations to each of you!

For this teacher's table, I made burlap/felt canvases.  The teacher is an art teacher, so it seemed to fit her perfectly.

And finally, I made some burlap flags to add to each table.  The burlap triangles were actually purchased at Hobby Lobby - though I made some myself for the banners.  I found cute clip art owls that I printed off onto white card stock, then glued them to dowel sticks to poke around in various places. 

The "Guess Whoooooo???"  theme was a HOOT! :)

Teacher of the Year 2011

Each year, at the end of school, the annual Teacher of the Year Reception is held at the Tipton Home cafeteria. The school committee responsible for the event makes plans, collects donations for gifts for the recipients, and orders the cake(s). For the past seven or so years, I have been asked to decorate for the reception. It is something I enjoy doing - and especially enjoy trying to make the decorations "fit" the person who has one the award.

The more difficult task, though, is that our school also is over a juvenile center in Manitou and there is a "Teacher of the Year" selected from their faculty, as well.  I usually try to find out a little bit about the person, but sometimes that is hard.  To add to all of that, this year the committee decided to give a "Support Staff Person of the Year" and decided to keep it all a secret!  This made my decorating job more difficult, but it was kind of fun to be different, too.

An "Oscar" theme was chosen - mostly because it went well with our school colors of Vegas gold and black.  After a few weeks, it was announced that Mrs. (Coach) Tyler was the Tipton "Teacher of the Year".  Since I know her well and three of my children have had her for a teacher/coach, they helped me with ideas to personalize her table.  My children suggested Elvis and basketball.  Elvis went with the Oscar theme, so I asked a friend if I could borrow some of her items.  Just look at her Elvis memorabilia! 

As a special treat, "Elvis" (a.k.a. Mr. Kincannon, our high school principal) flew in (Yes, he IS alive! That very topic was debated in Coach Tyler's English classes earlier in the year.) to give Coach Tyler her award.  Congratulations, Coach Tyler!! (She doesn't too coach much now, but once a coach....always a "Coach"!! :)

So, for the Manitou teacher, I wasn't sure who it was until a few days before the reception.  She had taught my daughter in 4th grade and all Lauren could remember was that Mrs. Willis liked flip flops with flowers!  Another teen aged former students also remembered that Mrs. Willis liked shoes!  One of them also knew she liked basketball, so I went that route.  Didn't really go with "Oscar", but made it more personal for Mrs. Willis.  Congratulations, Mrs. Willis!

For the new "Support Person of the Year" award, not many people knew at all who had been selected.  I didn't even know until a little bit before the reception.  Why keep it a surprise?  For the suspense, of course, and also because if our sweet and efficient high school secretary had known she was receiving the award, she wouldn't have shown up!! :).  Mrs. Masoner is very deserving of this award and our school really wouldn't be the same without her.  She loves working with the students and teachers and her attitude and smile are blessings to all who know her. Congratulations, Mrs. Masoner!

One of Tipton Schools' hard-working employees is also a talented cake-baker/decorator.  Gloria made four star cakes for the reception.  They were beautiful and delicious!

With the "new" things the committee decided this year, little did I know that one of the new things involved me.  As another new award, the committee decided to have a "Volunteer of the Year" award and I was the recipient!  All of the school teachers, employees and probably most of the students know that I love my "job".  I love helping them with the fun things - parties and meals and decorating.  I have truly been blessed by God to be able to help and do things for the school. I thank Him for that blessing.  Thank you for the award, Tipton School staff!  That was very sweet and I appreciate your thoughtfulness.

The end of the reception marks the beginning of summer break for Tipton Schools.  We're all excited about that!  Have a great summer, everyone!

Teacher of the Year 2010

I remember mentioning last year that it seems like the whole month of May, I spend decorating and undecorating (I remember because I put out a plea for an un-decorator...my least favorite part of decorating!).  This year I've actually had a lot of help un-decorating, so I can't complain.

Last Friday I had the opportunity to decorate for what is probably my favorite decorating event in May - our school's annual Teacher of the Year reception.  Although I enjoy decorating for everything, I especially like this event because it's fun to customize the decorations for the winners. 

Our school has a local Tipton school winner, as well as a winner at a juvenille detention center in a nearby community.  This person is a part of the Tipton School faculty, but it's usually not someone I know very well - if at all.  Decorating for this individual is more challenging, but I still try to find out about their likes and hobbies from friends, family, or co-workers.

This year our Tipton School winner was Mr. Masoner.  My oldest children have had Mr. Masoner as their math teacher and they knew he liked OU.  My daughter decorated his chalkboard. Mr. Masoner used to coach and even coached my husband and his brother.  The 1978 football (Loaned  to me by Mrs. Masoner for this occassion) has my brother-in-law's name written on it.  They had a great team that year so the whole team gave him a signed football.  It's fun to use pictures and other things from the winning teacher's past.  It makes it extra-special for them and their families.

Congratulations, to the Teachers of the Year - here in Tipton, as well as other places! Your dedication and hard work is greatly appreciated!