“The first time she called on me, I wished she hadn’t. In fact, I wished I were just about anywhere else but at that desk, in that room of children staring at me,”

“But over the course of that year she taught me that I had something to say - not in spite of my differences, but because of them. She made every single student in that class feel special.”

“This is the simple and undeniable power of a good teacher.”

Powerful words. And from a powerful person.

This was former US president Barack Obama’s tribute to his favourite teacher, Mabel Hefty, who taught him in the fifth grade in Hawaii.

Leaders: Never forget to say thank you

Quick read: Thank you letters make it worthwhile

Top five: Worst gifts to buy a teacher

He wrote these words a few years ago to mark Teacher Appreciation Week, something which has been a firm fixture on the school calendar in the United States for the past 35 years.  

But could this tradition work here in England?

Since the mid-1980s, in the first week in May school communities in the US have given thanks and gifts to teachers in recognition of their work.

And the roots of Teacher Appreciation Week can be traced back even further.

Celebrating teachers

In 1953 former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt persuaded the US Congress that there needed to be a specific day on which teachers were recognised for their role in society.

From then National Teacher Day was celebrated on 7 March. That was until 1984, when it was moved to May and instead of just being one day it was expanded over an entire week.

And it is still going strong today. Teachers are bought gifts, offered thank-you tweets, and these days can also benefit from a range of discounts.

It is debatable whether Mrs Roosevelt had in the mind the offer of a buy one, get one free burrito meal, free coffee with a bagel or savings on pizza but the fact is that Teacher Appreciation Week has stood the test of time and is recognised at various levels.

Last night the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team presented community hero awards to three Californian teachers before their victory over the Atlanta Braves. 

It is one thing for a society to say that teachers matter but putting them on the same stage as sporting heroes in front of crowds of tens of thousands is a powerful way to get that message across.

Could teacher appreciation thrive in the UK?

School leader Geoff Barton believes teacher appreciation is something that could catch on on this side of The Pond.

The general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders said: “I must say I am attracted to it.

“There is nothing in our national psyche that would make you think that parents here would be less generous or thankful than those in the United States.

“The Pearson National Teaching Awards do something similar where people can nominate to thank a teacher who then receives a postcard. I know this can be very powerful for the people who receive it - to get a postcard thanking you and explaining who it is from and what it is for.”

Gift-giving for teachers at the end of the school year has become well established in England’s schools.

But Mr Barton suggests that a day or week in which messages of support celebrate the work of teachers might be more powerful.

“When I speak to primary colleagues, I know that there is a sense that gift-giving at the end of the year for teachers has become almost a bit of an arms race, with parents looking to out-do one another.

“But I think if we had something where parents could say ‘thank you’ to a teacher for the difference they are making, it would be very powerful.”

There has been much debate recently about the negative side of social media.

At the NAHT headteachers’ union’s annual conference at the weekend, heads warned that teachers could be on the receiving end of an onslaught of social media abuse with little recourse.

But what if every parent with reason to feel thankful for their child’s education took to social media in the same way.

Mr Barton said that if every parent with a positive experience of their children’s education said thank you online in the same place on the same day it would be “genuinely transformative” for teachers.