<p>My wife and I are looking for gift ideas for a male teacher. He is a young teacher close to the age of 30 and we wanted to do something special for him. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>@MD Mom... we are looking to spend in the $100-$150 range.</p>
<p>@dentmom4... S2 was invited to an Excellence Banquet that his high school throws to honor the top 25 students. Kids invite a teacher as their guest. My S invited him and will be giving him a gift card to a restaurant as his gift. My wife and I would like to honor him separately... as parents. This teacher has been impactful to both S1 (now at Stanford) and S2... he gave so much of his time and talents that we just felt that we wanted to say "thank you" from us. We are not sure of his interests though.</p>
<p>A new car?</p>
<p>You might give us some idea of what you want to spend. Leather gifts are nice…like a soft briefcase that might fit a laptop too.</p>
<p>My sister is a teacher and always appreciates a thank you from the student. Gifts: something consumable like theater, movie, concert tickets, sporting event tickets, gift certificate to a nice restaurant, book of car wash tickets. Not sure how much you want to spend…What are his interests?</p>
<p>If it’s for college related thank you… like recommendation etc… I bought coffee mugs from the school our S had decided to attend. Took them to the florist with a bunch of lollipops and candy for them to make an arrangement. I then added a gift certificate to a popular eatery for $50 or $75 (can’t recall), which was enough to buy them and spouse (all were married) a decent meal including a drink on me! 
Seemed very much appreciated. And I know they use the mugs cause I was just in the one’s classroom a few weeks ago!</p>
<p>In addition to your kind gift, please write out a note of appreciation. Every teacher I know has a file of these and they keep them forever.</p>
<p>There are some nice desk sets on the market as well as really nice pens. Pens can also be engraved. I always like the idea of restaurant gift cards to nice places.</p>
<p>In general, I think that teachers expect nothing, so whatever you do will be appreciated.</p>
<p>You may want to check school policy. Some schools, especially public ones, have a limit on what may be given as a gift. When I taught I always like gift certificates the best!</p>
<p>@pugmadkate… both my wife and I are educators and will make sure and write a letter of appreciation.</p>
<p>@MD Mom… I like the pen idea </p>
<p>@pacnwmomof2… while I like the idea of a gift card, we really were looking to get him something that he can enjoy for years to come (hopefully). </p>
<p>The only thing I could think of was maybe some nice computer speakers for the classroom. I was looking for other ideas though. Any other thoughts?</p>
<p>You did not say what kind of teacher; however, my brother in law taught sconce for many years and we always tried to find crazy stuff for his classroom. I don 't remember what catalog we used, but Brookstone has some neat stuff as does Sharper Image(I think it is still in business).</p>
<p>Watches are in right now. Take a look at the ones on this site.<a href=“http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/past-present-future-watch[/url]”>http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/past-present-future-watch</a></p>
<p>Someone who is around 30, must have an iphone, ipod, what about a docking station?<br>
A leather notepad holder.
I also like the pen idea. H collects nice fountain pens.
Cufflinks, if he gets dressed up.</p>
<p>This guy makes beautiful pens and the prices range a bit. He is part of the Sugar Loaf craft fairs, but you can probably order online. The guy makes one using a computer board in resin that is the coolest thing ever for someone interested in computers.
[About</a> Sugarloaf Artisans: Peter & Barbara Turner of Turner Mastercraft](<a href=“http://sugarloafcrafts.com/pens.html]About”>http://sugarloafcrafts.com/pens.html)</p>
<p>As someone mentioned above, definitely check the school policy! At my school, the max gift a teacher is allowed to accept is $50. If it goes over that and they accept it, they could get in trouble. So call up the school and check the rules.</p>
<p>I have been the recipient of nice gifts like this…and they are very special. In the most recent case, the family told me they wanted to get something for the classroom…and they gave me a price range. I sat with their student and we made a decision of what to get together…for the classroom.</p>
<p>I DID have to get his approved by the Board of Education. We are NOT allowed to accept any gifts in excess of $50 that are either for us, or for our programs/classrooms. The board did approve it. SO please check that policy.</p>
<p>I would strongly suggest something for the teacher’s school program. Your son will already have given him something for himself (restaurant gift card).</p>
<p>My favorite gift as a teacher came from my H. It was a comfortable, upholstered chair for use in my classroom. The normal issue at that school was a hard wooden chair, and I had a bad back. Likely, a young man doesn’t “need” a comfortable executive type chair, but he’ll think of you every time he uses it, that’s for sure. Mine was a rolling office type chair from a typical box office supply store, with armrests and swivel. Not so much recline. Next year’s students will understand it came to him as a token of respect…like a throne. I took it home each summer, though; things disappeared otherwise.</p>
<p>What we’ve seen/done (I have many relatives who teach)</p>
<ol>
<li>letter to the local paper, thanking the teacher</li>
<li>letter to superintendant/building admin about the teacher</li>
<li>books or basket of office supplies</li>
<li>donation to charity of importance to them</li>
<li>donation to the department of some wishlist item (most schools have a wishlist)</li>
<li> a gorgeous handmade bowl or cachepot for the desk, or a gorgeous picure frame</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>A letter to the teacher and cc to the school principal and superintendant</li>
<li>Something from the school your kid is attending. (Maybe glasses instead of a mug?)</li>
<li>A gift card - Home Depot, Amazon, the local bookstore</li>
</ol>
<p>BTW, not the point of this thread, but my younger son wrote a (rather over the top) letter of thanks to his GC. She called me up practically in tears she was so touched by it. People hardly ever thank them. I know that in her case, even thuogh she didn’t know my son that well, she must really have done a good job (used our brag sheet, looked at the two teacher recommendations from junior year - which weren’t the same teachers he used senior year - etc.) because he did much better admissions-wise than I thought he would.</p>
<p>Thanks for the ideas everyone. I really like the idea of a thank you letter written to the local paper. </p>
<p>@mathmom… we already bought the GC a gift She had to put up with me for five years as she had my kids back-to-back. My wife said that alone deserved a gift. She is a tremendously dedicated person and was ALWAYS willing to help. For example, last year my S1 needed a letter of recommendation written during spring break and she took time out of her vacation to write it. Also, this year my S2 found out after mid-year reports had gone out that he had moved up in rank from 2 to 1 and she faxed this info to all of his schools to make sure that they knew. We are waiting for the honors banquet in two weeks to give her the Dooney bag we bought her. It is something she hopefully can use for school. She definitely deserves our thanks.</p>