National Teacher Day

May 3, 2011

Great Teachers Make Great Public Schools

On National Teacher Day, thousands of communities take time to honor their local educators and acknowledge the crucial role teachers play in making sure every student receives a quality education.

The next National Teacher Day will be celebrated on May 3, 2011.

Information from Previous Years

2010 Artwork and Materials for Planning a National Teacher Day Event

Teachers Talk

Listen to some NEA members talk about what inspires them as teachers - on Teachers Talk, a project of TeachersCount and an NPR Connecticut affiliate.

NEA’s Teacher Thank-You Project in 2009

To kick-off National Teacher Day 2009, hundreds of local public school students and their teachers joined U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, members of Congress, and NEA President Dennis Van Roekel on May 4 to unveil NEA’s "Teacher Thank-You Project," a never-before-seen collection of thousands of thank-you cards artfully displayed on a larger-than-life mural measuring 8 feet tall and 75 feet wide. View photos from the Teacher Thank-You Project event.

The project was an unprecedented effort to collect thank-you messages for teachers around the world. Thousands of cards from celebrities, athletes, lawmakers, notable public figures, and individuals were compiled. To see a virtual version of the mural and view pictures, go to Teacher Thank-You Project.

Celebrities Name Most Memorable Teachers

Behind every famous face is an educator. Actress Hilary Swank said, "Mr. Sellereit (Eric Sellereit, Happy Valley Elementary School, Bellingham, Washington) gave me my first acting job in my school production of The Jungle Book."

Check out our lists of:

Celebrities' Most Memorable Teachers (PDF file, 38pp, 306KB)
Members of Congress' Most Memorable Teachers (PDF file, 28pp, 190KB)

History of National Teacher Day

The origins of National Teacher Day are murky. Around 1944 Arkansas teacher Mattye Whyte Woodridge began corresponding with political and education leaders about the need for a national day to honor teachers. Woodridge wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt, who in 1953 persuaded the 81st Congress to proclaim a National Teacher Day.

NEA, along with its Kansas and Indiana state affiliates and the Dodge City (Kan.) Local, lobbied Congress to create a national day to celebrate teachers. Congress declared March 7, 1980 as National Teacher Day for that year only.

NEA and its affiliates continued to observe National Teacher Day in March until 1985, when the NEA Representative Assembly voted to change the event to Tuesday of the first full week of May.

Happy Teacher Day!

Video

Teachers...We Just Want to Say Thanks!
Watch this video to see NEAs Teacher Thank-You Project, a first-ever effort to publicly thank teachers for their commitment and dedication to students.