In the wake of America literally burning from within, political unrest, and a steady river of news stories each week about teachers being arrested for infidelity with students it’s pretty goddamn awesome to see this story emerge. This H.S. bro surprised his teacher with a pair of sneakers he’s wanted since 1986. You don’t have to give one flying fuck about sneakers to recognize that this is one of the most touching/moving gestures in that teacher’s entire life, something he’ll remember forever:
https://twitter.com/augustine__09/status/778970842369757184
and
https://twitter.com/aleeeeex_OG/status/779129804045946880
If you’re wondering whether or not I’m crying right now the answer is no, I’ve just got some dust stuck in my eye and my co-worker’s in the other room cutting some onions…and if I am crying it’s because of this other story I just read. I came across the videos/tweets above over on Reddit/r/videos, and the top comment on that post is about one of the most meaningful gestures of respect I’ve ever read in my entire life:
esaeler:
I spent my senior year hosting fundraisers (some legit, like car washes, some not so legit, like underage keg parties) to raise almost $2k to get our teacher a custom set of the Oxford English Dictionary. He has always waxed poetic about his dream set while using his condensed version (the one that’s only one volume, not 20+) to write the word of the day on the whiteboard. We made it happen and showed up on the day before graduation (seniors had all been out of school already) and had one of the juniors distract him so we could funnel in and sit down with a volume in each hand. When he realized what was happening he sat down, speechless, and began to cry. He explained how he had never been so moved by a gesture in his life, and that out of all of the students he had, he’d never forget us. It was a day I’ll never forget either.
We’re friends on Facebook now (almost 10 years now since high school), and I’m really thankful that we get to stay in touch and still have small chats from time to time. He’s a fantastic educator and human being that overcame so many adversities (including but not limited to brain cancer, and the subsequent demise of his marriage) during his career and never let any of them impact his teaching.
Watching this video took me right back to that day. Thanks, kid.
I guess I was a pretty shitty student. I never planned any of these grand gifts/surprises for my teachers. I had some teachers that truly changed my life and I would’ve loved to have done something as meaningful as this for them, I just don’t think I’m motivated enough to have ever executed on a plan.
Anyways, this kid’s awesome and we need more of this in the classroom.