Whenever we receive a compliment from someone, it’s only natural that most of us would feel good and be uplifted — but this was not what happened when the 29-year old teacher Leigha Bishop admired the hairstyle of one of her students named August.
August Burroughs is just one of the Pre-K students Miss Bishop take care of at Lakeview Elementary in Sugar Land, Texas. The four-year old student did not believe it when her teacher said she loved her hair. August simply rolled her eyes at Miss Bishop saying “Okay, Miss Bishop..” as she walked away.
The teacher was a bit cast down because of the reaction of August, so she decided to prove to this student that she meant what she said. The very next day, Miss Bishop arrived at school having the same hairstyle as little August — with topknot and cornrows. The Pre-K teacher posted it on her Facebook account, where a lot of people reacted positively:
The smile on the little girl’s face says it all — she was ecstatic!
On her Facebook post, Miss Bishop said (using emojis) that both August and her dad were shocked to see that the teacher actually changed her hair.
Her touching gesture quickly spread on Facebook and on Twitter, one particular post about what Miss Bishop did reached 149,000 likes on Twitter. Many are even calling to hail Miss Bishop the teacher of the year already!
The sweet and inspiring story was even shared by famous personalities, such as the Academy Award-winning actress Viola Davis:
In an interview with PEOPLE, Miss Bishop said that August was mostly speechless that day and would often blush when the teacher called her. She said: “She was pretty quiet the whole day, which wasn’t really like her. All the kids were like, ‘Ms. Bishop’s hair is just like yours!’ ”
The teacher asked for the consent of August’s parents prior to posting their adorable picture together on social media:
In another interview with Teen Vogue, Miss Bishop said that she worked on her hair herself after going home that day.
Miss Bishop has been a teacher for seven years. And from the looks of it, this teacher really wants her students to learn to love themselves. One of her Twitter posts read:
What this teacher instilled in August in copying her hair is one important thing every little girl (or every child, for that matter) should learn early on: they are special and beautiful in their own, unique way. They are so beautiful, in fact, that someone is willing to copy them. In doing something as simple as copying August’s hair, she made the little child more confident.
According to Metro.co.uk, Miss Bishop said that even though she’s there for all children, she thinks that Black kids need more positive examples. She also said that “[if] ‘young Black girls knew of the never-ending list of Black women who made a difference and are still making a difference, we wouldn’t have so many little Black girls with no one to look up to.”
We all have that one teacher that has made such an impact in our lives that we remember them even after many years have passed. And for August, Miss Bishop might just be that teacher — that teacher who believed in her beauty when she didn’t believe it herself.
Photos | Leigh Bishop