For many of us, we often wonder what to get our children's teachers as a small gift during the holiday season. There are entire Facebook threads dedicated to what is the most useful (gift cards seem to be highly popular) and least useful (mugs, definitely mugs) gift a child and parent can give to a teacher. Almost every teacher who responds insists that they are grateful for any gift they are given and that gifts are truly unnecessary, but one teacher recently proved that it truly is the thought that counts.

Rachel Uretsky-Pratt is a Washington State elementary school teacher whose post about a touching gift she received from one of her students recently went viral. Uretsky-Pratt is a 24-year-old teacher who posted about the gifts she received from her students, with one gift in particular that stood out.

"Today I received some chocolates, sweet handmade notes, some jewelry," the teacher wrote, "but these Lucky Charm marshmallows stood out to me the most." She posted a photo of a bag of the marshmallows and wrote about why they were so special to her. She explained that all of her students are low income and receive either a free or reduced cost lunch along with free breakfast. She explained her student wanted to give her teacher something so badly; she gave up the best part of her breakfast!

"So rather than give me nothing, this student opened up her free breakfast cereal this morning, took the packaging of her spork, straw, and napkin, and finally took the time to take every marshmallow out of her cereal to put in a bag—for me."

Uretsky-Pratt wrote the post to remind everyone that it is truly the thought behind the gift that counts, and that we should never take anything for granted.

The post has since gone viral, with more than 125 thousand shares on Facebook and over 21 thousand people commenting, many of them other teachers thanking her for sharing and sharing their own similar stories. She explained that many people have reached out to offer gifts to her and her students, but since she's a public employee she can't accept them. She did provide the information of her Principal who can accept gifts for the students and the school who would probably be more than happy to benefit from the generosity of strangers.

"My school and classroom are full of kind, giving, and amazing children and teachers," she added in an update to her post. "I have learned from so many before me and will continue to learn from my students and my colleagues. Truly I have learned as much from my students about life as they have learned about math, science, reading, and writing from me. Learning in my classroom will always be a two-way street."

Uretsy-Pratt added that she hopes her story will be a reminder that generosity and kindness should be shared the whole year through. "My wish for all of you is to remember this kind and simple gesture of love from one of my school babies and carry it with you and continue to spread love and kindness to everyone you meet-not just during this holiday season."

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