We asked teachers from the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about the kindest thing a student has ever done for them. Here are some of their most lovely responses…
1. “I was having a really bad day and saw a large group of kids surrounding another group. Expecting the worst I went over only to discover they were all trying to rearrange a vase of flowers they got me.” —errinanderson
2. “One student I worked particularly closely with wrote a goodbye card to me that said, 'You make me proud of myself.' I still take it out and read it when I'm feeling down.” —Jennifer Graham, via Facebook
3. “A close friend of mine died. He'd taught me Ancient Greek at university and we had a running joke involving the word for 'wagon'. After he died, I wrote it on my board as a sort of tribute to him. When my class were leaving to go to university they gave me a present, it was a glass with that word engraved on it. They knew how much it meant to me and it was so lovely I cried. Hands down the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.” —Katherine Mary, via Facebook
5. “I asked one of my students if he could do something for me, and he replied 'yes miss, anything you want'. Melted my heart on the spot.” —aminas4a5ffc275
6. “I used to catch every cold going, and one year I had a particularly difficult class and a terrible case of the snots. One group of boys spent my first lesson quietly mimicking my bunged-up instructions, and I expected them to be just as insufferable the next day. Instead, they clubbed together to buy me a multipack of Olbas oil-infused tissues, which they left on my desk with a note saying 'Your nose looks sore.' They didn't give me any trouble after that. Well, not over my nose-blowing, at least!” —Em Snave, via Facebook
7. “On my birthday last year, my second-grade students were acting particularly out of control. In an attempt to reign them in I said, 'How can you guys be so mean to me on my birthday?!' After school, I was called to the office. When I walked up, I saw my quietest student standing there with his mom. He had asked her to take him to the store immediately after school so he could get me a birthday present. It was an adorable pair of earrings that looked like rulers. It made my whole day better, and I made a point to wear them often for the rest of the year.” —Katie Ann, via Facebook
8. “One time a student brought me a grande caramel frappe to her individual conference, because I was halfway through a week of 72 (!) student meetings and she 'figured [I'd] need the caffeine.'” —Rachel Stevens, via Facebook
9. “My dad had been a teacher for over 30 years when he passed away three years ago. On the day of his funeral, the room was packed with students (most of them crying), and on his birthday a few months later they honoured him by releasing 100+ balloons after school. Even to this day I am approached regularly by his former students saying he was a great guy and a great teacher.
For teenagers to do all this for their high school math teacher was very humbling. He may not have been around to see it anymore, but we were. And I can tell you, it helped.” —indseyr44600820f
10. “A pair of amazing students didn't buy me the normal boring chocolate or wine; they bought me a box of gourmet cheeses because they knew I love cheese.” —Fran Sims, via Facebook
12. “I have a full cork board of little drawings and messages from children I've worked with over the years. Sometimes people ask why I would dedicate myself to a job that is underpaid and under-appreciated, but that board is why. They are just children, but them putting aside time to show they don't forget about me when they walk out the gates is amazing.” —Emma Kathryn Hudson, via Facebook
13. “I teach two year olds. One time a kiddo picked out a Hot Wheels car for my birthday because he knew I liked cars.” —Amy Merritt, via Facebook
14. “I teach in a very low socioeconomic rural area, so teachers don’t tend to get presents, especially for something like a birthday. I read my students Dr. Seuss’s “Happy Birthday To You” on my birthday this year. When we got to the part about the birthday horn that is played so that everyone knows it’s your birthday I made a joke about how I would like a birthday horn as well. At playtime that day, all the students in my grade got together and made me a horn out of cardboard and paper and they all signed it. When I got back into the classroom they were all so proud of what they had created and presented it to me. It was a weird but thoughtful thing for my students to do for me, I don’t think I’ll forget that one!” —louisew4894abd0e
15. “I taught in Japan as a teaching assistant and the job was really interesting but the hours were long, so I drank Coke to keep me going. My students found it incredibly fascinating that I regularly had a can of cola on my desk, so for my going away present they bought a giant three litre container of coke and wrote lovely messages with their signatures in Japanese and English on the label.” —Eli Sullivan
16. “I had a really difficult class of 16 year old students, whom I was due to leave to go on maternity leave with my first child. When I was eight months pregnant the clocks went back an hour, and I couldn’t get up on a chair to alter the clock. One morning I came in to find that they’d altered it for me, and had lifted the heavy book boxes on the floor onto a shelf for me, so I didn’t have to do it. It brought tears to my eyes to think they’d been so considerate. It’s the small things.” —grm0207
17. “A little boy once came into school with a canvas he had painted for me that said 'Thank you miss Taylor, love from ****.' It was a normal day, not the last of term or anything, and when I asked what he was saying thank you for, he said 'for being the person to make me smile'. That made everything worth while. I still have that canvas hung up in my living room.” —lucyntaylor1994
19. “I had a class as a new teacher that I had real difficulty with. They shouted out and never settled down. On my last day, they all secretly planned to sing me a song that was an inside joke from our nicer moments, gave me a beautiful handmade card and a shirt with their names on it, along with flowers and chocolate and a gift card. It was a more thoughtful and sweet farewell than I got from any of the staff. I'll never forget it.” —Victoria Anna, via Facebook
20. “I am a teacher myself, but I think the kindest thing I have experienced was from the staff, parents and children from the school my mum worked at for 13 years.
My mum was an art teacher and passed away quite suddenly, which was a shock to everyone and so hard on the children. The school closed for the day for the funeral and staff, parents, pupils and ex-pupils organised the wake (a tea party - trust me this is what my mum would have wanted, she loved cupcakes) to be at the school in the hall.
They also collected memories of my mum and made a room dedicated to her, all the children wrote a memory of her, and lots of them made arts and crafts. After the funeral they made the memories into a book for my family, every single child and their parents contributed. Also, even beyond all they had done, they then went further to raise a lot of money for the charity my mum supported and made a large donation in her name.” —2mothersilla
21. “The best gift I ever received was a letter from my worst behaved student in my mailbox on the first day of the new school year explaining how thankful he was for having me as a teacher because, 'We may have had our ups and downs, but you never gave up on me.'”—Kyle Chalipa-Batman Curry, via Facebook
22. “I had a low ability year 11 group and they absolutely smashed their exams. Exams aren’t everything but seeing them move onto that next step in their life, that’s the best thing they’ve ever done for me.” —samm473fdb4e3
Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.