The teacher did not expect this exciting surprise: Julio Castro, a non-Jewish math teacher at the YULA Jewish High School in Los Angeles, received a 2019 Mazda CX-3 from his students as a gift as a token of appreciation for his efforts in teaching them.
Castro travels four hours every day by public transport to get to school and back to his home. After the Jewish students learned that the devoted teacher wakes up every day at 4:30 am and returns home only at 9:30 pm after his small children are already asleep, they decided to surprise him.
When he arrived at the assembly convened in the school's sports hall, Castro was asked to sit and watch a tribute video prepared for him by the students in which they thank him for his dedicated work for them. After the video, the principal of the school, Rabbi Aryeh Sofrin, ordered the students to "return to their classrooms". But the students stood outside the hall and waited for the excited teacher, and led him to the center of the schoolyard where he was surprised to find his family members present there.
After a few minutes, the students handed Castro a box, which contained a key. The math teacher still did not understand that this was a gift the students had prepared for him, and only a few minutes later the students led him to the new car worth 30 thousand dollars. In addition, they purchased fuel and insurance for him for a year.
Castro was stunned and wiped tears from his eyes, while the students around him burst into song and dance. "I am surprised. I feel special. So thank you to my students. They are like my children," Castro said.