When is teacher appreciation week

Teacher Appreciation Week runs from May 7 to May 11 in 2012. Teacher Appreciation Day is May 8, 2012. Teacher Appreciation Week always occurs during the first full week of May. Teacher Appreciation Day is the Tuesday of that week.

The exact origins of National Teacher Week and Day are unclear. Sometime around 1944, Arkansas teacher Mattye Whyte Woodridge started talking to political and education leaders about a national day to honor teachers. Among those she wrote to was Eleanor Roosevelt. In 1953, Roosevelt persuaded the 81st Congress to proclaim a National Teacher Day.

The National Education Association lobbied Congress to create a national day of celebration. Congress declared March 7, 1980 as National Teacher Day, but only for that year. Observance was continued until 1985, when the NEA Representative Assembly voted to change the event to Tuesday of the first full week of May.