Whether it's the teacher's birthday, appreciation week, or the end of the school year, the same question pops up again and again: Is it better to give individual presents or one gift from the entire class? Sandra Hughes, a three-time room parent from Tustin, California, came up with an ingenious way to do both. A few weeks before her son Hudson's second-grade teacher celebrated her birthday, Sandra gave each student a brown paper bag on which she'd written a letter of the alphabet. Inside was a note asking parents to help their child fill the bag with one or more small gifts beginning with that letter. For inspiration, she offered a few examples: muffin mix or movie passes for M; potpourri or potato chips for P. (Since they had 20 students in the class, she added a P.S. asking for volunteers to take two bags.) The teacher was thrilled when the kids presented her with their sometimes quirky but lovingly chosen items. The idea was such a success that Sandra repeated it in both of her other kids' classes.