Elementary teacher gives wholesome end-of-year gift customized for every student in her class

The love and appreciation some teachers have for their students shows in how much effort they put into doing something for them. Sara Shabir, an elementary school teacher at Tyndale Community School, Oxford, England, went above and beyond her work to make her kids feel special as the year ended. She crocheted a miniature version of all the students in her class to honor them individually with a personalized gift, reports Good News Network.

The 32-year-old teacher took up the hobby during the pandemic. Shabir loves her students so much that when the year-end was approaching, she wanted to do something for them to remember their time together. She wrote on her Instagram (@sarathestory), "I feel a massive sense of accomplishment in completing this project, and the joy the children showed when they saw them was worth everything." Shabir began the massive crochet project in May.

She gifted her students tiny lookalike dolls when classes came to an end. "After months of crocheting, my class is complete! I made each child a keepsake as an end-of-year gift - a crochet version of themselves," she posted on social media. Each doll took about eight hours to make and she made 30 of them, so it took about 240 hours for the teacher to create them all.

One of the student's mothers, Joanna Borysiak (@JoannaBorysiak), posted a picture of the crocheted dolls on X and wrote, "My daughter's Y3 teacher is the absolute GOAT. She single-handedly crocheted a mini-me of each kid in her class as an end-of-year gift. Approximately eight hours per doll. Even the hairstyles and clothes are spot on. What a legend." It was not easy for Shabir to crochet each student exactly how they looked. She said it was difficult to get the skin tones, hair colors and styles right.

She apparently pondered over each doll carefully and even created a spreadsheet so she would remember which colors she had finalized. Shabir ticked them off one by one as she completed them. She expressed, "It was all worth it!" After finishing the dolls, she secretly brought them to the class and before handing them out to the kids, she showed them a photograph of the dolls and asked them to guess which child was which doll. 

When she finally showed them the actual dolls, they were reportedly "shocked and amazed." She said, "They came and started brushing their hair and playing with them, which was lovely to see. They were very grateful." Shabir also posted a picture of the dolls on her Instagram and people on the platform could not be happier. @nihaoheather commented, "Omg, Sara. This is too precious. You did so well! The world really needs more educators like you. I have no doubt that your clear passion for teaching will inspire so many children to do for others what you do for them. You're the teacher they'll remember most fondly as they grow up."

@wool_goddess wrote, "Absolutely beautiful of you to spend so long making each child feel loved. So kind." @snapdragoncrochet83 expressed, "These are incredible! I would've loved to be able to crochet back when I was teaching and would have loved to give the children I taught something like this." @thedorothydays said, "What an amazing and special gift to have given them."

You can follow Sara Shabir (@sarathestory) on Instagram for more lifestyle content.