Teacher Brings Food for Poor Students Daily, Kids Team Up as Emergency Takes Her Away — Story of the Day

When their beloved teacher, Mrs. Parks, had a medical emergency, her students wanted to help her somehow. Paying for her expenses seemed impossible until all of Mrs. Parks' students teamed up.

Mrs. Parks loved her job as an elementary school teacher. Her students were usually eight to nine years old, but the entire school knew and respected her dearly. She always won 'Favorite Teacher' at the end of the year, and her former students started communicating with her on social media. But Mrs. Parks was the best for one reason.

Her students were her only children. Her husband died in their early 30s, and he was the love of her life. She couldn't stomach even the idea of dating or the fact they had lost their chance of making a family together. Therefore, Mrs. Parks put her heart and soul into her school, going above and beyond for her kids.

She taught at the local public elementary school, but her students came from all sorts of families. Some had insanely wealthy families who hated the idea of private schools, while other kids came from average families. However, every once in a while, she had children with barely anything, so she paid attention to them.

"We need a grown-up to help, and they're not listening," Hannah said, grimacing.

Sometimes, she had to dip into her own money, which wasn't much on a teacher's salary, to buy them notebooks and pencil cases. But Mrs. Parks did it gladly and encouraged them to study. She had to pay for a few kids' meals or bring some food from home daily so they could take it home later, but she didn't mind.

All that mattered was the children. Mrs. Parks wanted her class to be a safe haven, and it indeed was. Her students loved learning and knew how to express themselves better than others. Everyone at the school recognized Mrs. Parks' efforts, and that's why she always got awards. She was a hero to them.

Many years passed, and Mrs. Parks kept in contact with many of her students, thanks to social media. She had been invited to weddings and even baby showers, which delighted her. Her hard work had saved her during her most vulnerable time, and soon she realized she was meant to do this until her last breath. However, she didn't know her last breath might come too soon.

***

"And that's why turtles are not considered amphibians…" Mrs. Parks finished one of her lessons, and although she had not performed any physical activity, she was out of breath. A sudden burning sensation started in her gut. Something's wrong, she thought but hoped that her students wouldn't notice.

"Mrs. Parks, are you alright?" a kid, Tony, asked, frowning.

"You look pale, Mrs. Parks," another child, Hannah, added.

Mrs. Parks started nodding, hoping to explain everything was alright. But the words wouldn't come out. She collapsed in front of her class, and everything was a blur from then on. There were red and blue lights, many adults, and the sounds of children crying.

"Will she be OK?" Mrs. Parks heard the high-pitched voice but couldn't recognize who had said it.

"Tony, sit back down, please. Everything will be fine," the principal, Mr. Roberts, replied. But Mrs. Parks heard the kids' cries and tried to calm them.

"Everything will be fine," she whispered, but a paramedic hushed her and put an oxygen mask on her.

***

"Tony, please. We'll see what we can do for Mrs. Parks. For now, all of you have to go back to class and listen to whatever Ms. Hanson tells you," Mr. Roberts tried to shoo Mrs. Parks' students from his office, but they wouldn't move. Tony and Hannah were at the front of the pack.

They wanted to do something helpful for Mrs. Parks. Someone had told them she needed surgery, and the kids knew that was expensive.

"We need to raise money. Hospitals cost money. I heard my mom and dad saying that when my grandma had a heart attack. Help us raise money, Mr. Roberts," Hannah said, and all the kids nodded.

"Kids, let's go. Let's go back to the classroom and brainstorm together about helping Mrs. Parks," Ms. Hanson tried to usher them away.

"We'll see how we can help her," Mr. Roberts assured them, and finally, all the children returned to the class. They couldn't stop talking about helping their teacher, and Ms. Hanson made them write special messages to her.

However, their substitute teacher clearly underestimated how much kids could understand these days. "A card is not enough to save Mrs. Parks. She has to come back. She's the best teacher ever, and everyone knows it," Tony told his classmates, who gathered in a huddle during recess.

"What can we do? I know we need money, but how do we get it? We need a grown-up to help, and they're not listening," Hannah said, grimacing.

All the kids were thinking hard, and suddenly, Asher spoke up. "My big sister was in Mrs. Parks' class too."

The children cried, clapped, and jumped in delight.

"OK?" Tony said, confused.

"I can talk to her. She's a senior in high school. I think she can help," Asher continued. "No one else has a big sister? Big brother?"

"I do," some of the kids nodded.

"Well, they can help. I think they'll know how to make or raise money. I think they make a link on a website or something," Asher tried to explain, but he wasn't sure about the whole thing.

"I've heard of that. Yes! That's the best idea. If all of Mrs. Parks' students from forever join up, we can raise the money we need and help her!" Hannah roared. All the classmates agreed and went home to tell their older siblings about this idea.

Asher's big sister, Dianne, started a Facebook group, and she made a GoFundMe link immediately with her parents' approval. Asher and his classmates didn't have personal phones yet, but some used social media with supervision from their parents.

The link and the group were shared throughout the community quickly, and soon, everyone started donating. What surprised everyone was how many people Mrs. Parks had truly taught and helped throughout the years.

A tremendous amount of money was raised in no time, and soon people started sharing stories of how much Mrs. Parks helped them during their most vulnerable and formative years. When Mrs. Parks got through her surgery, she saw all the messages and was moved by the entire thing.

Needless to say, she had more than enough money to pay for her medical expenses and some at-home care, which she needed to recover later. She placed the rest in a fund to keep helping her future students.

Mrs. Parks also printed and framed some of those Facebook messages. She also was back at school two months after her collapse, and the children cried, clapped, and jumped in delight.

"We're glad you're back, Mrs. Parks. You're like our grandma. Well, a second grandma since we all have one," Tony said, and all the class laughed.

"I'm just glad you think of me as family, Tony," Mrs. Parks grinned at him.

"We all do. You're our family, and everyone loves you," Hannah added, making all her little friends nod and smile.

Mrs. Parks could only nod and press her lips together to avoid crying. "Thank you," was all she could say. She might've never had kids, but this was even better.

What can we learn from this story?

• Being a good teacher involves more than imparting knowledge. Mrs. Parks was a great teacher and a safe haven to many kids over the years, and many would never forget her.
• Kindness is always repaid. The teacher was kinder to her students than most others, so her selflessness was repaid tenfold during an emergency.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a teacher who followed her student and discovered her dumpster diving right before Christmas.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.