Highlighting: “Todah, Teacher! A Fill-in-the-Blanks Book of Thanks,” by Sari Kopitnikoff. Ideastrator Press. 2023. Paperback, 27 pages. ISBN-13: 979-8985160543.
When teacher and Jewish-education content creator Sari Kopitnikoff was a student herself, she would spend time at the end of each school year creating thank-you notes for each of her teachers. Fast forward and Kopitnikoff became a teacher herself, ultimately realizing that above all else, heartfelt notes from students were the most cherished appreciation gifts. And so, utilizing her design skills and keen knowledge of the world of Jewish education, she created her latest book, “Todah, Teacher! A Fill-in-the-Blanks Book of Thanks,” to help students thank their teachers in a fun and meaningful way.
“I put out a query to fellow Jewish educators and families for suggestions for books they wished existed,” Kopitnikoff shared. “One request was a teacher appreciation book for students to fill out. The content of all of my books thus far has been focused on Jewish education, and this time, the book is designed to thank teachers for the holy, and often thankless, work they do.”
“Todah, Teacher!” contains pages of writing and drawing prompts for students of all ages to fill out, and includes several Jewish texts highlighting the beauty of the student-teacher relationship. At the end of the book, students can fill out a page about themselves so that their teachers can look back at this token of appreciation fondly for many years to come.
“I’m excited about the idea of thanking teachers around the world for doing what they do,” said Kopitnikoff about this project. “On top of that, I hope this will help kids develop their hakarat hatov muscles, which will hopefully carry through to other parts of their lives.”
Kopitnikoff pointed out that despite its appearance, “Todah, Teacher!” can be used at any age—including well into adulthood. “I’m filling out a copy of the book to send to my sixth-grade teacher, whom I realized had a big impact on my life,” she shared, noting that this teacher has since moved and Kopitnikoff is very close to finding her new address.
Like it says on the back cover of the book: “There’s no doubt about it: teachers do holy work.” This heartfelt token of appreciation is an easy way for students to recognize that.
“Todah, Teacher! A Fill-in-the-Blanks Book of Thanks” by Sari Kopitnikoff and other Jewish education books, are available on Amazon and at https://www.thatjewishmoment.com/books.
