My teacher is leaving my school to switch to another school this year and I want to give her a great gift for the end of the year. This teacher and I have a very close relationship, I call her my “school mom” and she calls me her “school daughter”. Despite her leaving, we are still going to be involved in each other’s lives after she leaves and she will basically take on the role of my “aunt”. She has always been there for me and before she leaves I was thinking about getting her a $100 Macy’s gift card. Is this too excessive? I certainly don’t want her to decline it because it’s so much or portray the message that “I’m rich” by giving her a card worth so much money. I do worry about sending this message because she already teases me for being so much richer than her and being spoiled by my parents. I certainly don’t feel like that’s too much for everything that she’s done for me but she might think I’m crazy.
I think $100 is too much from a student to a teacher. A hand-written letter from you in a card will be much more meaningful. Perhaps include a $20 gift card to a coffee shop or book store.
Not only does it feel like too much but the combination of $100 AND gift card feels especially impersonal for someone who obviously means so much to you.