‘We appreciate him’: Class pools money to buy teacher 1st pair of Air Jordans
HEBRON, Kentucky - One group of students from a northern Kentucky high school found the perfect way to express gratitude for their teacher — and the surprise was a slam dunk.
Kyle Holbrook is an AP U.S. history teacher at Conner High School, and according to his students, he works tirelessly to make his class fun, make them laugh and help them to learn.
"Seeing a teacher that honestly and genuinely cares about their students and works to relate to them and act as a friend is rare, especially with all the added stress this year with COVID," Griffin Morris, a student in Mr. Holbrook’s class, told FOX Television Stations. "We all had come to love him as a teacher and decided to show him that we felt that way. The decision to do something was unanimous."
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According to Morris, Holbrook begins every class daily with a question, but one day Morris asked Mr. Holbrook a question: What was his favorite pair of Air Jordans?
"He started to go on and on about different styles and that’s when we realized how much he loved Jordans. He mentioned he never really could get a pair when he was younger because as everyone knows, Jordans are expensive shoes," Morris, a junior at his high school, said.
Holbrook said he had always wanted the Space Jam 11s.
"Ever since I was a kid, I have dreamed of owning Jordans but unfortunately never had the money for them," Holbrook told FOX Television Stations.
That’s when the students knew what they wanted to do.
Within just one week, the students pooled together nearly $400 to surprise the teacher with his first pair of Air Jordan sneakers.
"The day of our AP exam, we were all in Mr. Holbrook’s room, and that’s when I handed him the gift. The video shows what happens next," Morris said.
The video shows Holbrook opening up the gift, followed by his priceless surprised reaction to receiving the shoes.
"My first reaction was disbelief as I have never received a gift of this magnitude from students," Holbrook revealed. "As a person, it shows how the youth can think above themselves and act in a selfless manner. As a teacher, it was a huge positive end to a tough year."
"His reaction was what everyone needed that day before the exam and you could tell how surprised and happy he was. Definitely one of the best moments of my school life seeing him open that shoe box," Morris said. "This experience has really taught me being giving and selfless brings out a feeling unmatched by anything else. I wouldn’t trade that moment of gifting Mr. Holbrook the shoes for anything."