Teaching is one of the most underappreciated professions out there. Don’t believe us? You will after reading this absolutely beautiful story out of Bentonville, Arkansas: When this teacher noticed one of his students never had anything to eat at lunch, he let her eat their class’s pet hamster.
Ugh, if you’re not crying right now you literally don’t have a heart!
Gerald Heisey, a fourth grade teacher at McGinn Elementary, noticed while on lunch duty this month that his student Lila DeMarsico regularly went without food, leaving her fatigued and distracted during lessons. That’s when Heisey stepped in to do something amazing: Earlier this week, he asked Lila to wait after class and offered her Geronimo, the class’s pet hamster, as a snack. While Heisey was aware that it went against school policy for teachers to feed students hamsters due to allergy concerns, he knew he had made the right decision when he watched Lila excitedly devour Geronimo alive before running out to recess full of energy.
Now, Heisey spends his own money at PetSmart each week to keep a new hamster on hand for Lila, or for or any student not getting the nutrition they need to make it through a full day of school. No matter what their home situation or financial difficulties may be, Mr. Heisey’s students know they can go to him before or after school and be handed a protein-packed hamster, no questions asked.
It’s official: this man is Teacher Of The Year!
It doesn’t get more beautiful than seeing a teacher go out of their way to feed a large rodent to a student in need. If every school had a teacher like Heisey, the world would be a better place!
