{"id":15053,"date":"2023-12-15T10:49:07","date_gmt":"2023-12-15T15:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=15053"},"modified":"2023-12-15T13:06:02","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T18:06:02","slug":"teacher-goes-viral-after-asking-for-christmas-gifts-for-her-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2023\/12\/teacher-goes-viral-after-asking-for-christmas-gifts-for-her-students.html","title":{"rendered":"Teacher Goes Viral After Asking for Christmas Gifts For Her Students"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Adobe Stock | Inset: @attagirlguy \/ Tiktok<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Las Vegas teacher found herself in tears this year as she read the Christmas wish lists of her students. English teacher Cheri Guy is teaching her first year at Desert Pines High School, which hosts an annual \u201cWishmas,\u201d where students share their Christmas requests and the 300 staff members use their own money to try to fulfill them. While every student doesn\u2019t always get exactly what they want, they get something. The students attending the school are economically disadvantaged, with many living in single parent households.<\/p>\n

Guy was surprised by some of the requests she read. \u201cSlippers,\u201d one student wrote<\/a>. \u201cI would like some black slippers to protect my feet from the cold.\u201d Another student asked, \u201cFor all the wishes to be granted.\u201d That request particularly struck Guy, who knew many of her students were facing poverty and enormous challenges. \u201cWe have a lot of kids who are in the foster system, we have a lot of kids who are living in poverty,\u201d she told Today<\/em><\/a>. Speaking to The Washington Post<\/em>, she said, \u201cWe do everything we can within our power as staff to help every student feel loved. A thousand wishes and a staff of 300 people would be almost impossible, especially on the salary of educators.\u201d Guy decided to turn to her TikTok<\/a> account, and asked her followers for help. Clearly emotional during the video, Guy shared about the school\u2019s Wishmas program and then read some of the students\u2019 requests, starting with the wish to have all the wishes granted. \u201cMaybe we could do something to try to make some of these things happen,\u201d she said in her video, asking her followers to reach out to her if they\u2019d like to help.<\/p>\n

Guy\u2019s video was viewed over 100,000 times and she received hundreds of responses from people who wanted to help. People have helped by buying gifts off an Amazon Wish List she created, sending money to her directly, or even stopping by the school. Guy has made multiple trips to the local post office to receive packages and has had her apartment full of packages.\u00a0 The Washington Post<\/em> reported that the school had received 600 gifts, with more on the way. The deadline to receive packages is December 15, though the school will deliver any packages received after the deadline after the school\u2019s break. School principal Isaac Stein called the response \u201camazing.\u201d \u201cI think it\u2019s what our community and what our nation needs to see.\u201d He praised Guy and his teachers\u2019 efforts. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing everybody step up. Ms. Guy is really a reflection of our staff members and our team here. She is representing who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to a local news station, Guy said, \u201cI’m humbled by it. I’m humbled because I do get emotional when I talk about my kids.\u201d She added, \u201cIt’s a little cliche, but little things add up to huge differences. And this is going to make a huge difference in a lot of students’ lives. And every single one of us has the opportunity to do that. And that’s what teaching is really. And I think it goes back to what teachers are at their core. We care about our kids.\u201d Speaking to Today<\/em>, she shared why the door to her classroom has a sign that reads \u201cOne person can change a world.\u201d \u201cIt used to say, \u2018One person can change the world,\u2019 but I changed it to \u2018a world,\u2019 because it\u2019s not about changing the whole world. That\u2019s what overwhelms us. But if you can just think about, \u2018What can I do for one person?\u2019 That\u2019s changing a world \u2014 and if we could all do that? Just imagine what our society would turn into.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Las Vegas teacher found herself in tears this year as she read the Christmas wish lists of her students. English teacher Cheri Guy is teaching her first year at Desert Pines High School, which hosts an annual \u201cWishmas,\u201d where students share their Christmas requests and the 300 staff members use their own money to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":15080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-messages"],"yoast_head":"\nTeacher Goes Viral After Asking for Christmas Gifts For Her Students<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Las Vegas teacher found herself in tears this year as she read the Christmas wish lists of her students.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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