Graduating Seniors Surprise Their Retired Kindergarten Teacher in Viral TikTok

Pass the tissues!

By Karly Wood June 7, 2022

We’ve been reminded a lot these last few weeks how important our teachers are to us, but a viral TikTok video is showing the other side: how much our children mean to them.

The video, filmed by Kim Hamilton, shows retired kindergarten teacher Jane Pearson sitting in her garden enjoying the beautiful day. Suddenly, she sees some graduates walking by and assumes they are strangers. Ever the beacon of positivity (because how else would you survive 38 years teaching kindergarten?), she congratulates the seemingly unknown students.

But she feels like something’s going on and turns to her daughter asking “what’s happening?,” only to look over and recognize the cap and gown-donned students arrive at her gate. They are none other than seniors who were once her last kindergarten class!

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♬ Graduation March – Pomp And Circumstance – Instrumental – Zev Weinstein

“Did you know this was happening? Oh my gosh I love you all!” says Pearson. Visibly moved, the retired teacher’s emotions prove what we all hope for our kids teachers: that they love them as their own and celebrate their successes like we do.

Pearson hugs and each and every one of the eight students as they file in, telling them “you’re all so gorgeous…I gotta have a picture.” Her daughter reveals that they are her last group of kindergarteners––and now we’re all crying.

Kim tells ViralHog, “My mom’s passion was her career and her job was everything to her. I spent years of my childhood on evenings and weekends with her at the school prepping so everything was perfect. She made special memory books for each child that she bound and presented at the end of the year to each student. She truly was a one of a kind teacher. She deserves this recognition.”