Caitlin often found herself informally supervising her neighbor Stacy’s young son, Nate, providing him some stability while his mom sought time for herself. However, when Nate decorated the hallway walls with doodles during Caitlin’s absence, she was unjustly slapped with a $500 fine. Determined to set things right, Caitlin devised a plan for retribution.
Stacy had become accustomed to letting her young son, Nate, roam the hallway as a play area.
“It’s safe, Caitlin,” she’d assure me. “Plus, it’s their version of outdoor play.”
She would then retreat behind her door, leaving Nate to his devices, often while she entertained guests.
“I just need some downtime,” she confessed to me once in the laundry room. “I’m a grown woman with needs, you know. Being a single mom, you must get it.”
I understood her need for personal space, but I could never imagine letting my own son, Jackson, wander the hallways alone. Despite our general familiarity with the neighbors, the corridors didn’t feel completely secure.
Jackson, slightly older than Nate, seemed concerned about the younger boy, who often loitered alone, clutching his tattered teddy bear.
“Mom,” Jackson would say during his playtime, “maybe we should invite him over.”
Grateful for my son’s compassion, I agreed. It was better to keep both children within sight, ensuring their safety.
Thus, we began having Nate over for snacks, toys, and movies—a simple arrangement that brought him noticeable joy.
“He mentioned he likes playing with others,” Jackson noted one day. “I don’t think his mom spends much time with him.”
And interestingly, Stacy hardly acknowledged this setup. Once she realized Nate was safe with us, she seemed to extend her leisure time even more.
Eventually, it became routine for Nate to knock on our door whenever his mother let him out.
“Hello,” he’d say, teddy in hand. “I’m here to play.”
However, one day, we were away at my parents’ house for my mom’s birthday.
“I hope Nate will be okay,” Jackson expressed concern as we drove.
“Oh, honey,” I responded. “His mom is there. She’s responsible for his safety too.”
Upon our return, we were greeted by hallway walls covered in childish drawings—a colorful chaos of stick figures and squiggles.
“Nate must have had fun,” I remarked, searching for my keys.
“Isn’t he going to be in trouble?” Jackson asked, eyeing the artwork.
Teacher secretly records coach touching girls hair and the mother speaks up after seeing the footage
Getting inside the classroom every day and trying to cope with all those students who have different personalities and learn using different strategies isn’t that easy. However, watching a shy student raising their hand and speaking in front of the whole class, or seeing a struggling student getting an ‘A’ makes you realize that it’s all worth it. It requires only special people to be teachers, because not everyone can rise to the task of shaping young minds into compassionate and responsible people who’d become a valuable part of the community.
The ideal teachers always go the extra mile just to make sure their students are doing their best to achieve the most they can. This help usually expands outside of the classroom too. And even if this effort may not be recognized by the parents, the school’s principal, or the community, that doesn’t really mater, because teachers know how great of an impact they make.
One physical education teacher from Valdosta, Georgia was giving his students a lesson in basketball when one of them, a girl named Kristin Paulk, approached and asked him whether he could do her a favor. The teacher said yes even before he knew what she would ask. The girl then said: “Can you tie my hair in a ponytail?” The teacher didn’t think twice before he knelt down and started doing her hair. Meanwhile, a fellow colleague named Kandice Anderson noticed the quite unusual sight and decided to put it on tape. She later posted the video on her Facebook page, writing:
“When your job goes beyond teaching… #CoachO #Love”
Kandice only wanted to show her friends what it really takes to be a teacher, and never did she think the video would be seen more than 3 million times. The phys ed teacher had no idea his kind act vent viral and he became famous. People found this way too adorable, and he was featured on Good Morning America.
“It was shocking to me that it got that much attention because we all do it.”
The teacher has three children on his own so he happens to know how to make a ponytail. He jokes how his expertise in hair styling stops there and if sweet Kristin wanted a more complex hairstyle she should have probably asked someone else to do it for her.
Kristin’s mother was also a guest at Good Morning America where she shared how she felt like after watching the video. She says she is more than happy knowing her girl has a teacher who cares so much.
We hope there are more teachers like this coach out there, who would do anything for their students’ well being.
This video is the sweetest thing you’ll see all day.
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