"My first graders are going to have the absolute best year with the help of you two, and I will make sure they know you all made it happen," the teacher said.
13 Going on 30 star Jennifer Garner lended a helping hand to Erin Fuller-Wellman, a first-grade teacher at Buffalo Elementary School in Wayne County, West Virginia.
Since it's almost time for teachers and students to go back to school, Erin Foster, Canadian musician David Foster's daughter shared a post on Instagram urging teachers to share their Amazon wishlists for school supplies so that people could send the resources directly to them, per WOWK 13.
Fuller-Wellman came across the post and was the only teacher from West Virginia to share her wishlist. A few days later she found 10 boxes on her front porch. When she looked inside, they were all filled with books.
At the bottom of one of the boxes was a note from Jennifer Garner. "A gift for you," the note read. "Here is to your best year, yet! Thank you for choosing to teach, you have the most important job in the world! [Heart emoji] From Jennifer Garner."
Fuller-Wellman shared the images on Facebook describing the whole event and wrote, "The CRAZIEST thing just happened to me." She added, "I think, ‘I wonder who sent these?’" She then quoted the note that she received from Garner and said, "My jaw literally dropped. Every box after was from her."
She also said that she first thought she was imagining it. "My initial thought when seeing the boxes was, 'Who on Earth sent me this many items?'" she told Newsweek. She then added that "maybe some parents had decided to purchase some items."
"After the second box, I remembered I had posted my list on Erin Foster's 'clear the lists.' I also remembered seeing I was the only person from West Virginia who had posted mine, so that might be what stick out to Jennifer Garner since she's from West Virginia," she continued.
Expressing her gratitude for Garner's kindness she wrote, "We already knew she was our [West Virginia] angel, but WOW. She is truly one of a kind & I'm so proud to say I'm from the same state as her! I am in awe and feeling just so grateful. Thank you SO much. I truly can't believe this. My first graders are going to have the absolute best year with the help of you two, and I will make sure they know you all made it happen."
The dedicated teacher said that she enjoys the relationships she makes with her students. "All of their personalities are so fun and different. I love all the stories they tell me and just the funny things that happen in class. They make the hard days a little easier," she added.
"The most challenging thing, for me, would be learning how to teach post-COVID. I graduated college Spring 2020 and got a job right after, so right in the middle of the pandemic. Having to adapt to all different learning methods was a struggle, but this is my third year and I think (and hope) we will have the most normal school year we've had!"
References:
https://www.newsweek.com/jennifer-garner-surprises-teacher-10-boxes-books-personal-note-1733831
Cover Image Source: (L) Facebook | Erin Fuller-Wellman (R) Getty Images | Photo by Al Seib
