Teacher Blown Away by Student Who Generously Offered Test Points to Another Classmate
A Kentucky high school student has been praised for looking out for the well-being of the lowest academically-performing student in his history class with a heartwarming gesture.
Winston Lee is a U.S. history teacher at Letcher County Central High School in Whitesburg, Kentucky. While grading tests last month, Lee came across a high-scoring paper with an asterisk and a hand-written note at the bottom.
The 11th-grade pupil, who scored 94 percent on the World War II test, wrote, “If you could, can you give my bonus points to whoever scores the lowest?”
Lee told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he had offered five bonus points to anybody who participated in an exam review game prior to the test.
Five extra points would have brought this student’s score up to 99 percent, but the straight-A student wanted them to go to someone who needed the points more than he did.
Lee said that in 12 years of teaching, he had never gotten such a heartwarming request from a student, adding that the teen’s bonus points brought the benefitting student’s test score up to a passing grade.
“One of my guys, a straight A+ guy, offers up his 5 bonus points to someone in need. Anyone,” Lee wrote on Facebook. “Totally offering up what is rightfully his, his earning, to any peer that may have been struggling especially hard the day of the test.”
“I was pleasantly surprised,” Lee told GMA. “He is the type of kid that would often show compassion in the classroom.”
“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,” Lee wrote on Facebook.
“She was really thankful so it turned out great,” Lee said to GMA of the recipient of the points.
According to WLEX-TV, the student was later identified as Brandon Caudill, who told the station he knew what it felt like to struggle academically.
“It’s a lot of dates and locations and times, a lot of things that’s hard for some people to remember,” Caudill told WLEX. “Because I used to struggle pretty hard. So I felt for them, and I was like, well, let’s see if he’ll give them the bonus points. So I put the little asterisk on the note.”
Caudill had no way of knowing who would receive the grade boost, but it did not deter his decision to give.
“I just wanted to help someone out that day,” Caudill said. “It didn’t matter who they were or why they weren’t doing too good that day on that test or whatever. I just wanted to help someone out.”
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