The Story Behind A Teacher’s Gift

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In 2015, I was in my first year of teaching at Dobie Middle School, the very same school I had attended as a student. That year, I learned that one of my favorite students would be moving away.

She was everything a teacher hopes for in a student: hardworking, kind, supportive of her peers, and focused. I also noticed that she wore the same jacket every day. I thought it was purple, and it had become faded and worn over time. I wanted her to leave knowing that someone believed in her, so I found a North Face fleece jacket on sale and bought it as a going-away gift.

On her last day, I called her over.

“What’s your favorite color?” I asked.

“Pink,” she replied.

“Pink?” I asked, confused. “It’s not purple, like your jacket?”

She looked at me, just as confused. “My jacket is not purple, Mr. Velasco. It’s pink.”

I looked down and handed her the bag. I told her I wanted to get her something before she left because she was such a great student. Before I could say anything else, she threw her arms around me and shouted, “I love it!”

The very next day, a few of her friends approached me about another student. Her shoes were falling apart, and they wanted to know if I could help her, too. As I learned more about the challenges her family was facing, I began thinking about what else I could do.

At the time, I had been saving money for a trip to New Zealand. Instead, I decided I wanted to use that money to buy Christmas gifts for the student and her siblings. When I shared the idea with my best friend, he suggested reaching out to family and friends to see if they wanted to help.

What began as an idea to help one family quickly became something bigger. Together, we raised $1,200. That Christmas, five siblings were able to celebrate the holiday for the first time in five years.

What started with a jacket for one student would eventually become A Teacher’s Gift. But my desire to help families didn’t begin in that classroom. In many ways, it began with my own childhood.

Long before I became a teacher, I knew what it felt like to rely on the kindness of others.

I grew up with three siblings, raised by a single mother who was doing everything she could to provide for us. After my biological father left us in a motel in Houston, my mom had to start over with very little. Most years, the Christmas gifts under our tree came from community organizations, relatives, or programs like Blue Santa.

I still remember collecting and hanging the personalized stockings I received as a child. Seeing my name on something that was just for me made those gifts feel special. I also remember the organizations that made sure we had something to open on Christmas morning.

Those are memories that have stayed with me. Today, personalized stockings are still part of what we provide to families through A Teacher’s Gift.

But the kindness my family experienced wasn’t limited to the holidays.

Right before I turned eight, my mother was critically injured in a car accident and spent three months in a coma. While adults were figuring out which siblings would live with which relatives, my elementary school stepped in to help our family.

For two weeks, they provided groceries. I still remember how excited I was to have foods and drinks we normally couldn’t afford. At the time, I was just a kid excited about what was in our kitchen. Looking back, I realize how much that support meant to our family.

Years later, I would find myself working in a school, with an opportunity to extend that same kindness to students and families of my own.

Education also became an important part of my story.

I was the first and only person in my immediate family to attend and graduate from college. Growing up, I witnessed firsthand how financial hardship, family circumstances, and limited opportunities could affect the people around me. One sibling became a teen parent, another has been missing since 2008, and several friends faced struggles with drugs, homelessness, violence, or incarceration.

Higher education opened doors for me and gave me opportunities that changed the direction of my life. I wanted other students to have opportunities to pursue their own dreams, regardless of the circumstances they grew up in.

That belief is one of the reasons scholarships became such an important part of A Teacher’s Gift.

Today, A Teacher’s Gift is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that brings our community together to support families and invest in students.

Each year, we provide families with Christmas gifts, personalized stockings, and a $200 H-E-B gift card to help ease financial burdens during the holiday season. We also award essay-based scholarships to eighth-grade students who are nominated and selected by their teachers, encouraging them to pursue higher education and recognize the possibilities ahead of them.

In many ways, the work we do today reflects the kindness I experienced growing up. The stockings remind me of the Christmases when others made sure my siblings and I had gifts to open. The support we provide families reminds me of the groceries my elementary school brought when my mother was in the hospital. And the scholarships reflect my belief in the opportunities education can create.

When I think about the students and families we’ve helped, I think about the people who showed up for my family when we needed them.

Every gift, stocking, scholarship, and act of encouragement is an opportunity to remind a student of something I hope they carry with them:

You matter. Your circumstances do not define you. Your future is worth investing in. And most importantly, you are seen.

What began with one student and a jacket has grown into something I never could have imagined. Through A Teacher’s Gift, I get to see people in our community come together to support families and encourage students, just as others once did for my family.

I know firsthand how much it can mean when someone shows up for you. I experienced that kindness as a child, had the opportunity to extend it as a teacher, and today, through A Teacher’s Gift, I get to be part of a community that continues passing it forward.

— Carlos Velasco

Founder, A Teacher’s Gift