Thanks!!! You had wonderful suggestions, as usual. I'm going to need =
someone else to retire to use more of these fantastic ideas.
a.. I had an assistant once who loved poetry, so I either had people =
write her a poem or just an essay; or bring their favorite poem to the =
party, where we read or recited them and created a memory book. It was =
a truly wonderful event.
Another time, we each brought a chocolate bar or piece of candy to a =
chocoholic. She was a little embarrassed by that one, but it went okay.
I like the idea of picking something that the person is fond of and =
expanding on that for the party.
=20
=B7 In case she likes to garden..... A friend was in a =
similar situation and bought the retiree a garden statue of two children =
reading a book along with other gardening tools, all delivered in =
decorated wheelbarrow.
=20
=B7 I've created a long list of overdue books for a couple of =
teacher's that=20
have retired. I think I might have done one as well for the last =
secretary.=20
If you have some old fan fold type computer paper, that works well. I =
usually print the titles in large print and have this long list fall =
to the=20
ground. The students and staff always get a chuckle just from that.
You can make up titles related to things she does or events that have=20
happened in your school. I usually have a mix of real books and made =
up=20
ones. You can tell her that she thinks she's retiring, but until she=20
returns all the books, she's not free to go.
=20
=B7 My aunt retired after 35 years in the district. Her =
favorite fun gift was
from Mom and me. We bought her a little tiara. It could mean =
anything you
want... Queen of leisure time. Queen of the media center. We told =
her she
could mow her lawn in it if she wanted. Every girl needs a tiara! :)
=20
=B7 The school I am at had a retirement party earlier this =
year for a Guidance
Office Secretary. There was a picture of her from when she first =
started at
our school (she too was here for a long time) on the cake. Most =
bakeries
can put pictures on cakes (speaking now, as a former cake decorator). =
We
also had a sign in book where people could write notes or memories. =
As far
as a gift, I can't remember what was done. At Barnes and Noble or =
Borders
there is a journal book that is really neat. It is full of pages that =
you
fill in. I gave one to my cooperating teacher from student teaching =
when
she retired. She loves the book. It is called All About Me by Philipp =
Keel.
=20
a.. How about buying some books for your library and putting =
remembrance/retirement book plates in them ? Then, at the retirement =
dinner/party you could use them as centerpieces on the tables. Later =
the books would become part of your library collection. If she has =
worked in the library for a while, she may really appreciate this =
gesture.
=20
a.. Buy the picture book Yay, You! Moving Out, Moving Up, Moving On =
by Sandra
Boynton, read it at the party and then give it to her as a gift.
=20
a.. Something our HS has done recently for 2 long-time employee (30+ =
years)=20
retirements was to make a quilt. They did this by handing out =
squares to=20
people (staff, admin, past students, community members, etc) who =
knew the=20
employee well and asking them to draw or write something on the =
square=20
(white ones I think). The completed squares were collected and sewn=20
together along with whatever else has to happen to make a quilt (can =
you=20
tell I'm not a quilter?) and presented at their retirement party.
They also made a "memory book" by asking folks to write a note =
describing=20
something or some event that the person remembered particularly =
about the=20
retiree. The notes were put in sheet protectors and put in a ring =
binder=20
that had a place for a photo on the front. I think they also =
illustrated=20
the binder with photos copied from various staff members' photo =
collections.
=20
a.. Our head custodian did a lip sync (?) routine to an Elvis song =
since=20
one of our retirees loved Elvis. This was in front of 100 people and =
was hilarious! Someone else made an iMovie and included everyone in =
the=20
bldg waving from their teaching area. The background song was Thank =
you=20
for being a friend (Golden Girls). I am not the creative type so I=20
organized the meal, dinner seats, issued the invitations to former=20
colleagues far and wide and collected all of the money. (I have been =
known to change the words to songs so I have a version of Thanks for =
the Memories and the Battle Hymn of the Republic that is perfect for =
retirees. I also have a version of My Way (if you ever have a =
special=20
retiree!)
=20
a.. a gift certificate from a book store makes a lovely present. We =
usually have
pitch in or office paid for luncheons catered, with profits from the =
lounge
pop machine.=20
=20
=20
=20
=20
Jeanette Gerrietts
Media Specialist
St. Paul's Lutheran Elementary School
Waverly, Ia 50677
jeanette.gerrietts@stpaulswaverly.org
Ph. 319-352-1484
"Outside of a dog a book is a man's best friend, inside of a dog, it's =
too
dark to read." -Groucho Marx
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