High school students surprise beloved custodian with new work boots for Christmas

(Image credit: iStock)

Custodian supervisor Brian Junk makes sure that the Garden City High School campus always looks beautiful, and the students there felt Christmas was the perfect time to show Junk how much they appreciate his hard work.

After seeing how worn his work boots were, several students pooled their money and bought Junk a brand new pair for Christmas. They surprised him one day before school went out for winter break, and he became emotional before he even opened his present. "You guys are gonna make me cry," the Michigan man said as he hugged the excited students.

Student Kenna Hermanson filmed the exchange, and wrote on Facebook that Junk is "always putting a smile on everyone's faces during school." After he opened his gift, Junk thanked the students profusely, but it was their pleasure. As Hermanson wrote to Junk: "Thank you for everything you do and making the school day more enjoyable for us. Merry Christmas."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.