Tree Payne is an eighth grade teacher at Logan Fontenelle Middle School in Bellevue. Earlier this month, Trey stole an extravagant pair of 12 Kevin Durant shoes from his desk.
While annoyed by the theft of his favorite pair of shoes, Trey didn’t give it much thought and planned to buy a new pair when he had some money saved up. But the children in her class had other ideas.
Trey’s students hear about the theft and get together to buy him a new pair. Student Emma Mitchell spoke to reporters at KETV News saying Mr Payne gives so much to her and her fellow students that he deserves the kind gesture.
Another student, Carlo Kemper, says he and a group of friends set up an online chat so people could donate and order shoes online once they reached their goal.
At the time of the big reveal, Trey was a bit skeptical about what his students had done for him. A card and a gift bag were placed on his desk as the students begged him to read the note first.
After reading the letter for himself, Trey picked up the bag and then pointed out his heavyweight to KETV reporters. Whispering, “I hope these aren’t men’s shoes,” Trey was shocked to see his students swapping his precious sneakers. Feeling tears of kindness being shown to him, Tre hugged his students in a group hug.
A video of the students’ cute behavior was later posted to Twitter and TikTok, where it has already been viewed over a million times. Contemplating the event, Trey says he feels like the Grinch, his heart has grown three times.
Trey also says being kind underlines his teaching style. During class, Trey tries to teach his students that it’s important to do things to build each other up, a lesson learned by each of the kids in his class.
