Teacher pleads with whoever stole her calculator to return it. Complete strangers decided to surprise her

Of all the classes Corinne L (@chemwithcorinne) has taught, one stands out for sending a “wave of goodness” across the internet. The catalyst was her missing calculator. Someone had taken it, and she was devastated. Unable to afford a new one, she turned to her classroom whiteboard and wrote a heartfelt message, also sharing it on TikTok. The response brought tears to her eyes and evoked kindness and empathy from countless people.

Corinne teaches chemistry. One day, she discovered her calculator was missing and wrote a heartbreaking note for her students: "To the person who stole the calculator I've had it since high school: Please return it. Have a friend drop it off or leave it by the door. My kids need new jackets and shoes, and I can't afford to replace the calculator. Thank you, Mrs. L."

Moved by her situation, TikTokers plunged in for support. They offered to send money for jackets, and a new calculator. Others offered to give her their own calculators. @solojeno commented, “Do you have an Amazon wishlist for your classroom? I want to help.”

Several others were shocked to hear that the teachers in the US were so underpaid. “The fact that as a high school teacher, you can't afford to buy both a calculator and things your children need. Our educational system is failing teachers,” commented @tbird4114. According to Forbes, teachers in America are paid only 76% of the average salary earned by similarly educated professionals. On top of it, many teachers use their own money to purchase basic school supplies like paper, pencils, glue, books, chart papers, folders, etc.

But in Mrs. L’s case, her lost calculator actually paved the way for a good ending. “There is a good ending to this story, stay tuned,” she wrote in the video caption. Sometime after posting the video, the teacher left an update on it, writing, “Still don’t know who took the calculator, but I’ve been overwhelmed by my students’ responses to this.” Later, she posted a detailed video on the update. “I don’t have the calculator, I don’t know who took it, but I have to say I have been so overwhelmed by the responses,” she said in it.

She said the response to her appeal had been amazing. She added that although she really appreciated all the love she was getting, she couldn’t accept the gifts. She was going to resign from her teaching job, and as a stay-at-home mom, she was not going to need calculators anymore. Instead, she appealed to her followers to donate their calculators to their local high school. “We always need calculators. And I promise it will go to good use,” she said. After updating viewers on the calculator, she revealed that she had found a mysterious package someone left in her classroom. The package contained “two brand new jackets in the right sizes for her kids.”

She thanked the anonymous person for the gift. In the end, although the mystery of the missing calculator wasn’t solved, she said she appreciated the overwhelming response her video had prompted. “Proof that there are 1000s of good people to make up for the bad,” Mrs. L wrote in the video caption.

You can follow Mrs. L on TikTok and Instagram for chemistry tutorials, vlogs, and teaching-related videos.