Trey Payne is a teacher at Logan Fontenelle Middle School in Bellevue, Nebraska. He loves his job, but recently, his favorite basketball shoes were stolen from right inside his classroom. While he was devastated at the fact that this had happened, he didn’t think too much of it. In fact, he decided to forget all about it. However, his 8th-grade students weren’t quite ready to give up.
A Big Surprise for a Special Teacher
Payne’s students, only being in 8th-grade, had decided to come up with a plan to surprise their teacher. They made a group chat with all of Payne’s students and decided to have everyone that could pitch in some money. The money would then be used to purchase the same pair of basketball shoes that were stolen from Payne.
The shoes were not any ordinary basketball sneakers. They were Nike brand Kevin Durant 12’s. NBA player Kevin Durant plays for the Brooklyn Nets NBA player and has had a Nike contract since 2014.
The students received the shoes and gave Payne the gift bag with the box inside. From the moment Payne picked up the bag, he noticed how heavy it was and speculated it might be shoes, but he didn’t think his students would do such a thing. To his surprise, the gift was indeed shoes, and they were just like the ones that were stolen from him.
A Heartwarming and Emotional Occurrence
Payne could barely hold in his emotions. His students filmed the moment and it went viral on social media. In the video, Payne can be seen opening up the shoebox and almost immediately bursting into tears.
Trey Payne mentions that it is about more than just a pair of shoes. It is about doing things that can build everyone up around you. He tries to teach his students this, and he believes that the lesson has stuck with many of them.