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Act of kindness at local school spreads nationwide

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ST. HELENA PARISH - What began as a kind gesture from a teacher has become a message of giving and spreading kindness, and it all revolves around shoes.

Middle school can be tough. But when students began teasing fifth-grader Christopher Baker over his shoes, one teacher decided to step in.

"They are great kids... Just that day, they were being kids and teasing him about his shoes," said Kenisha Callahan, a teacher at St. Helena Arts and Technology Academy.

Callahan happens to be Christopher's favorite teacher, and she found out some students had been teasing him over what they referred to as "grandpa shoes". 

"When I came in the room, they were like, 'Ms. Callahan they're teasing your baby about his shoes,'" Callahan recalled. "And I said, 'Who said something to Chris?' Because they all know he's my baby."

After hearing about the situation, Callahan decided to handle the problem right there and then.

"So... We used the whole class period and we talked about teasing. And by the time we finished, a couple of students were crying."

While she did get the other children to apologize, she decided to go a step further and buy Christopher a new pair of shoes. She later posted about the incident on social media, and their story soon spread far and wide.

"I had people reach out all the way from California. They sent money saying 'Give him whatever he needs,'" Callahan said.

Christopher has since received several pairs of shoes. But instead of keeping them all, he's paying the favor forward and giving some away to those in need of a fresh pair of confidence boosters.

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