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In 2023, National Teacher Appreciation Week took place from Monday, May 8 through Friday May 12. To celebrate the hard work and dedication of teachers, national chains and mom & pop restaurants and shops offered discounts, deals, and freebies to educators during Teacher Appreciation Week. And of course, there were plenty of DIY teacher gifts, free printable teacher gift tags, and teacher gifts under $30 for your fave teacher.
All of the deals in 2023 required educators to verify their eligibility through third-party sites like ID.me or SheerID or directly with restaurants or stores. What’s in store for National Teacher Appreciation Week in 2024? At this time we don’t have all the details on what deals and discounts will be available next year. Based on what we saw in 2023, we anticipate the deals below will return next year. Don’t worry, we’ll update this post with Teacher Appreciation Week 2024 deals, discounts, and freebies as soon as they drop.
Psst… we’ll also show you where to get the best deals and freebies all year long if you’re an educator. Here’s the best teacher deals we’re seeing for National Teachers Week.
Teacher Appreciation Week is May 6 – 10, 2024
Each year, Teacher Appreciation Week is held during the first full week of May. For next year, Teacher Appreciation Week will be May Monday May 6 – Friday May 10, 2024.
Teacher Appreciation Week Deals from 2023
We found restaurants and retailers that offered discounts, deals, and freebies for teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week in 2023.
1. Academy Sports + Outdoors
Academy Sports + Outdoors offered educators, administrators, and other school staff a 10% discount of your entire purchase, in-store and online through May 14, 2023. You had to verify your eligibility through ID.me.
2. Applebee’s
Applebee’s gave educators 20% off their order when they presented their faculty ID during National Teacher’s Appreciation Week at participating Applebee’s locations, May 8 – 12, 2023. You could also get a free appetizer with the purchase of an entree (up to $14) when you mentioned the promotion and showed your employee ID until May 13, 2023.
Here’s every Applebee’s hack you’ll ever need to save at Applebee’s.
3. Blaze Pizza
Blaze Pizza offered educators a $5 bonus gift card when you purchased $25 worth of gift cards.
4. Costco
Costco: Once you verified your info with SheerID, you could join Costco and get a $20 Costco Shop Card. Note this deal was for new members only.
5. Crocs
Crocs offered educators who verified their eligibility through SheerID a 25% discount on full-priced items at Crocs.com. You had to reverify with SheerID each time you shopped to receive another unique discount code.
6. Dickey’s BBQ Pit
Dickey’s BBQ Pit gave nurses (with valid employment ID) a free Big Yellow Cup with a minimum $10 purchase at participating locations between May 6 – 12, 2023.
7. Dunkin’
Dunkin’ offered a free Dunkin’ coffee every Monday in May with purchase if you were a free Dunkin’ Rewards member.
8. Einstein Bros Bagels
Einstein Bros Bagels had their e-gifts discounted for Teacher Appreciation Week. For a limited time teachers could get Einstein Bros Bagels e-gift cards for 20% off. Even non-teachers could get this deal.
9. Firehouse Subs
Firehouse Subs offered teachers a free medium sub with the purchase of a medium or large sub, chips and drink. You had to show valid ID or other proof of employment at the register. Any medium sub was eligible for this promotion.
10. Freddy’s
Freddy’s gave educators a mini single topping ice cream sundae (reg. $3.19) for free when they presented their faculty ID during National Teacher Appreciation Week, May 8 – 12, 2023. Offer was limited to one per teacher or faculty member, per day.
11. Insomnia Cookies
Insomnia Cookies: From May 5 – 12, 2023 Insomnia Cookies offered a free 6-pack of Classic Cookies to teachers, daycare employees, and school staff who made a $5 in-store purchase and mentioned the deal and showed proper ID. The in-store offer was one per person and expired on May 13, 2023. You could have used your work ID, pay stub, or other official proof of your employment to verify your eligibility.
12. Marble Slab Creamery
Marble Slab Creamery offered teachers (and nurses, too) a BOGO Free small ice cream as part of their Heroes Week. You had to show a valid ID to get the freebie.
13. McAlister’s Deli
McAlister’s Deli gave teachers who presented a valid educator ID May 3 – 10, 2023 at participating McAlister’s Deli locations a free 32 oz. tea. The offer was not valid on flavored shots or other drinks. It was a limit of one offer per person and for in-person ordering for dine-in or take out only.
14. O’Charley’s Restaurant & Bar
O’Charley’s Restaurant & Bar offered teachers with valid ID a free dessert when they purchased an entree between May 8 – 12, 2023 at any O’Charley’s location.
15. Office Depot
Office Depot had a teacher appreciation promo through July 1, 2023. Teachers who were VIP Office Depot/OfficeMax Rewards members could earn 30% back in Bonus Rewards on qualifying in-store purchases. You had to present the exclusive coupon at OfficeDepot.com, a valid teacher ID, plus your Rewards Member number at checkout. Offer was valid in store only, and the max you could earn back was $100 in rewards per member, per week.
16. Logan’s Roadhouse.
Logan’s Roadhouse: From May 8 – 12, teachers received 20% off their entree. There are 22 locations across the U.S.
17. Perkins Restaurant & Bakery
Perkins Restaurant & Bakery offered 20% off meals all week long (May 8 – 12, 2023) for teachers who presented valid ID. You had to be a member of the Perkins Restaurant & Bakery E-Club before May 8 to get this offer.
18. Potbelly
Potbelly had a freebie for Teacher Appreciation Week. Educators who showed their work ID at their local Potbelly restaurant between May 8 – May 12, 2023 got a free regular-sized soft drink or cookie with an entree purchase. Offer was for in-restaurants orders only.
19. Sonic
Sonic has a free loyalty program called the Sonic Teachers’ Circle. Once signed up you could get one free cheeseburger (reg. $5.49) with any other purchase from May 9 through May 16, 2023. Plus, you could receive many other coupons exclusive to teachers through the Sonic app. We have even more ways to save on slushies with our Sonic hacks.
20. Staples
Staples: From May 7 – 13, 2023, teachers could get $30 in Staples Rewards when they spent $100 in store. You could also get $15 off a $75+ purchase of banners, posters, and signs.
21. Subway
Subway gave teachers the opportunity to win on of 10,000 free Subway Series sandwiches through their new program Subway Serves from May 8 – 12, 2023. You could enter the giveaway each day by visiting SubwayServes.com. The first 2,000 people to log in and request a free sandwich received an electronic gift card. They reset the giveaway each morning at 9:00 a.m. ET, so everyone had a fair shot at winning. You couldn select from any signature sub on the Subway Series menu.
22. Target
Target offered educators a store discount. If you verified as a teacher through the Target app, teachers got a notification on Sunday night (May 7) that they could get 10% off one in-store or online purchase. This offer expired May 13, 2023.
23. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf offered educators with faculty ID any large drink for $5 from May 6 – 15, 2023.
24. Whataburger
Whataburger gave teachers a free breakfast item (no purchase was necessary) at participating locations from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., May 8 – 12, 2023. You had to show your ID in the dining room or drive thru. Teachers also saved 25% on all retail items at the Whataburger store when you used the promo code WHATATEACHER23.
25. Wawa
Wawa offered a 20% discount on catering for Teachers Appreciation Week with promo code THANKYOU20 at checkout. The code was valid only on Wawacatering.com with a max discount of $200.
Year-Round Teacher Discounts
26. Samsung
Samsung gives educators up to 15% off PCs and tablets, and up to 7.5% of mobile phones, accessories, and smart home devices. They also offer up to 12.1% off appliances and up to 25% off vacuums and home appliance accessories. Verify eligibility through ID.me.
27. Willow
Willow offers teachers that are also moms a 20% discount on the Willow 3.0 Breast Pump. Verification through SheerID is required for discount.
