Teacher Thank You Gift – Malala Yousafzai Quote
This year a cutesy teacher thank you gift was not going to cut it. After two years with a remarkable teacher who has made a significant impact on our lives, I needed a gift for teacher appreciation week that really conveyed our thoughts and feelings. If you have a child with special needs, this makes a wonderful gift for those teachers who really go out of their way to make a difference.
Reading Malala Yousafzai’s book, “I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban,” has made a big impact on my life. But what she said to the UN General Assembly really brought things home for me. At the end of her speech, she said, “One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution.”
My child’s teacher this year is one of those true believers, somebody who is in education for all the right reasons and is willing to do the right thing even when it makes her life harder.
Malala speaks for the right of education for every child. In our country, our obstacles are usually not as dramatic as guns, but many children’s right to an education is hampered by things like socioeconomic factors, race, family dynamics, learning disabilities, and other disabilities.
Our school system has been created for one type of child and unless you fit or can readily adapt to that style, learning can be a soul-crushing struggle. And the patterns we set in place now are likely to continue for these children. Malala speaks about the power of education and it is real. It changes people and it changes societies. Just like educating women will bring a depth and breadth to the countries they live in, educating children who fall outside the “average” will allow us to see the world and solve its problems in a totally new way. Many of our greatest and most innovative solutions have come from students who did not fit the system.
Fortunately, I have seen the difference a teacher can make, and I have seen the difference learning can make in the life of a child. When I saw this book, I knew it was perfect. This is a teacher who is constantly looking beyond the system and to the individual. A teacher with her magic pencil, drawing a better world for the students she teaches.
To make the teacher thank you gift complete, I added little globe stress balls and a pack of Ticonderoga pencils. They aren’t magic, but they definitely hold up better than the cheap brands. And I thought the balls would also be fun in the classroom or in a sensory bin. And to finish it off, I included an Amazon gift card in the shape of a bookmark.
If your teacher teaches the older grades, the young reader’s edition of “I Am Malala” is excellent.
