It may be surprising but teachers enjoy class reunions too. Many of your teachers, guidance counselors, and principals will gladly accept the invitation to attend your event.
In fact, the more popular a teacher, the higher the chance that they will agree to come.
Aside from the obvious benefit of catching up with your teachers or professors, another benefit of inviting them is that it increases class attendance (Read: “How To Increase Attendance At A Class Reunion“).
Many of your classmates will want to see what their teachers look like nowadays, how their life has turned out etc.
But before you go about inviting them, here are some things that you keep in mind.
Don’t Invite Every Teacher
Inviting every one of your teachers is impractical. Instead, do it the democratic way. Put together a list of all the teachers and post it on the class reunion website. Then take a poll to decide which ten teachers your classmates would like to see at the class reunion.
Once you have decided on ten or so teachers, talk to the alumni office to get their last known address, telephone number, and en email address. Call each one individually, and let them know how important it is that they come to the class reunion.
Make sure to inform them that the class voted for them to attend and that the registration fees/meals will be taken care of at no expense to them. Also, make sure that the finance committee includes this cost in their class reunion budget to avoid any last minute surprises.
Accommodations
If teachers have to travel from out of town, make sure you add extra hotel rooms to the class reunion room block to accommodate them. Have the hotel take care of the teachers by putting extra goodies in the rooms. A nice touch would be to add a welcome gift in the teachers rooms on the day of arrival to make them feel welcome. Oh and make sure you pay for their rooms.
Counts
Once you know how many teachers will be attending, then make sure to add them to the official counts that you provide to the banquet house, hotel, and any activities.
Gifts/Tributes
You may want to consider budgeting for a small gift for each of your former teachers. Another thing to consider is a memorial or tribute item for those teachers that have passed away. This could be a plaque or possibly a memorial stone or tree planted in their memory outside of the school.
Recognition
When the class reunion dinner has started, take a moment to recognize the teachers and thank them for all their efforts over the years. Have a few classmates go over funny stories they remember about each teacher and relay them during the course of dinner (Make sure the story does not embarrass the teacher). Then turn the tables and have the teachers give a short talk on particular students or events that they remember vividly.
Thank You Cards
A great way to thank the teachers that came to the reunion is to send out thank you cards. Don’t forget to send a simple note to each of them showing how much you appreciated them coming to the event.
Teachers can be very influential in high school and college. They help shape our beliefs, provide direction when we are lost, and teach us what we don’t know. Honoring them with an invite to the class reunion is a great way to say thank you for their years of service to the school and to your class.
What should you do next?
Check out some of our tips to plan a great class reunion.