After 12 years of teaching high school students, Winston Lee thought he had seen everything.
Winston is a history teacher at Letcher County Central High School in Whitesburg, Kentucky. He was grading a stack of exams about World War II that he’d recently given to his 11th-grade students when he noticed a note written on the bottom of one of the tests.
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“If you could, can you give my bonus points to whoever scores the lowest?” the student had written. Winston describes this student as a “Straight A guy,” but he still couldn’t believe the generosity the kid displayed. “I was pleasantly surprised,” Winston said. “He is the type of kid that would often show compassion in the classroom.”
Winston decided to share the student’s note on his Facebook page, where the image went viral. “Have to shout this out. Had honestly never seen this…” he wrote. “One of my guys, a straight A+ guy, offers up his 5 bonus points to someone in need. Anyone. Totally offering up what is rightfully his, his earning, to any peer that may have been struggling especially hard the day of the test.”
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“He didn’t care if he considered them a friend, didn’t care if they were cool, didn’t matter to him what situation had caused them to score lower, he just wanted to help, be kind, commit a loving act,” Winston continued. “This note gave me so much hope. Let us all be a little more like this young man!!”
Winston says that he did as the student asked, giving the extra five points he’d earned to a student who had scored a 58. The anonymous points donation was just enough to boost her grade to passing! “She was really thankful so it turned out great,” the teacher said. “She does not know who gave her the points.”
Aw!
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What a sweet gesture! Instead of boosting his own grade to a 99 he chose to give away the “extra” to someone else. It may only be five points, but it made a huge difference in the other student’s life. We can all learn from this teen’s example and put this principle to use in our own daily lives.
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