High school teacher explains why he cried after students gifted him a pair of Vans. It was never about the shoes
'He must be a special person if a bunch of teenagers like him.'
The relationship between a student and a teacher is like no other. It's a sacred bond that is built on love, trust, and commitment. Jeff Swicegood, a teacher at Providence High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, realized it when his students pooled their own money to gift him a pair of Vans. He hadn't even opened his gift, but the minute he saw it, he couldn't hold back his tears. One of his students, Kalea Shak (@kaleashak123456), posted the beautiful moment on his TikTok account on November 26, which has received 9 million views so far.
The 12th graders had planned the surprise quietly without anyone's knowledge. They had come together, pooled their money, and waited for the perfect moment before they pulled the biggest surprise. They had brought a pair of slip-on Vans, which their teacher now wears to work daily. As Swicegood entered their class, Shak handed him a bag. Confused, Swicegood took it from her and was shocked to see a gift inside. The teacher could no longer hold his tears. More than the gift, he was touched by how thoughtful his students were. Swicegood sat down and tried his best to stop crying, but every time he tried, he failed a bit more. With trembling hands, the teacher finally opened the gift and saw the pair of shoes. He was in shock, disbelief, and denial, and perhaps, too overwhelmed to speak. "What they did me made feel so special. I was like, 'Wow, someone thought of me.' They reminded me that I matter. It really caught me by a world of emotions as you can see," Swicegood told TODAY.
@kaleashak123456 This is #hopecore we got him a pair of Christmas vans #viralworthy #megatable ♬ lovers’ carvings - Bibio
The teacher, 42, had gone through a tough time in recent years, especially after losing his mom, a teacher, to cancer. Notably, he had already lost his dad when he was only 8. Surviving after losing his parents was obviously hard, and the special gesture by his students just made him feel a lot better. "We just wanted him to know how much he means to us. He makes us feel cared for, and we wanted to return that feeling," Shak said. It wasn't the gift, but the efforts his students had put in that made Swicegood feel special. In fact, it's that way with most teachers. A study conducted in India found that three out of four teachers reported gratitude from students as a form of recognition more valuable than anything else.
Meanwhile, people loved the students' surprise gift for their teacher. In fact, a majority of netizens praised the teacher for connecting with his students so deeply that they decided to make him feel so special. For instance, @mrgrimmtastic commented, "Wait, he started crying before he even saw what the gift was. He was so overwhelmed with just getting a gift; this man needed that." @malorie03 wrote, "He knew right then that he'd been doing it right all along. All the worry and wondering if he was making an impact, if he was being heard, or if he was making a difference. There sat all the proof, in a simple pair of shoes."
@juliablast said, "As a high school teacher myself… this is the kind of thing that keeps us going. When kids care enough about you, they do something special like this." @jesskahlynn commented, "He must be a special person if a bunch of teenagers like him; that says a lot lol. This was awesome." @jboyce1 commented, "This is what teachers should be like — inspiring kids to come together and be kind. When you’re a good person and inspire them, they learn so much more than the material in the textbook." @michellepadilla1111 commented, "He must be a wonderful teacher for those students to care enough to buy him a gift and Vans that he loves. It made me cry, and I know nothing about him, but just reading these posts, he sounds like a pretty special teacher!"
You can follow Jeff Swicegood (@kaleashak123456) on TikTok for lifestyle content.
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