Never underestimate the positive impact a good teacher can make on students!
When Elise Makowski first started working as an athletic trainer and teacher at Framington High School in Massachusetts, she didn’t share much about her personal life with her students. Over the next five years, however, that changed, mostly because her students were so open and honest with her about their own lives.
In Elise’s classroom, her students learn all about sports injuries and diagnoses, how to treat musculoskeletal injuries, and more, but it’s her willingness to lend an ear that sets her apart from other teachers. Her students gravitate to her classroom, even after school, because she’s always there to listen and help them through their issues.
“During school, I look forward to coming here because it’s just so fun,” said senior Nicole Ramirez. “It’s a great place to just be yourself. We call it our safe space here sometimes just because we’re very comfortable being here.”
Another student, sophomore Noah Albright, couldn’t agree more.
“Whether we’re coming in here for actual injuries (or not), we still just talk,” Noah said. “While we’re getting taped up, we still talk about everything that happened in our day. Honestly, Elise just listens.”
JoJo Reis, a senior at the school, added, “Even though she’s in an authority position, she treats us as equal, which is really nice.”
Elise says that once she chose to share personal information, she was able to form a closer bond with her students.
“I think they’re really craving that personal interaction, especially with the pandemic and everything going on,” she said. “So I think it’s really special for me to have that kind of relationship with them, and it’s important to them.”
When Elise told students that she had been dating her boyfriend, Josh Silvia, for several years and hoped he’d propose soon, they got super invested. It quickly turned into a running joke in her classroom with students asking, after nearly every weekend, if he had popped the question yet.
For a while, the answer was always “no,” but then, after being together for eight years… Josh finally did it!
Once she got over her own shock, she knew she had to find a cute way to tell her students the big news they’d been waiting to hear. Luckily, she also decided to capture the moment on camera!
“Telling my students he put a ring on it,” Elise captioned the now-viral TikTok.
In the short clip, she holds her ring up to JoJo so he can see it. Once he realizes it’s an engagement ring, the teen erupts with joy. The other students quickly catch on, and their reactions are almost too wholesome for words!
“Elise, I’m about to cry right now!” Nicole gushes.
“I thought we got engaged,” JoJo later said with a laugh.
“Yeah, we were so excited!” added Nicole.
The students said the announcement was worth the wait, and it made them realize how much Elise means to them.
“Sometimes kids don’t have people to tell things,” Nicole said. “It’s nice to be able to go into a school setting and have a ‘school mom’ that we can tell anything.”
The teens encouraged Nicole to put the video on TikTok, assuring her it would go viral — and it did! Millions of people have now witnessed their adorable reaction. Elise even appeared on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” and was given $1,000 to use for her wedding.
These lovely students were brave enough to let Elise into their personal lives and, in return, she let them into her own world outside of the school’s walls. This is how you raise thoughtful, kind students through a supportive community!
Share this story to congratulate Elise (and her students!) on her long-awaited engagement.
Want to be happier in just 5 minutes a day? Sign up for Morning Smile and join over 455,000+ people who start each day with good news.