Teacher makes direct appeal to thief who took her calculator as she admits she can’t afford a new one

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A TikToker and teacher’s appeal to the classroom thief who stole her costly calculator has received a flood of responses online.

The user who goes by the handle @chemwithcorrine posted on TikTok: “To the person who stole the calculator I’ve had since high school: Please return it. Have a friend drop it off or leave it by the door. My kids need new jackets and shoes, and I can’t afford to replace it. Thank you, Mrs L.”

The note, written on a classroom whiteboard, was also accompanied by several pictures of her students.

That TikTok was viewed more than 590,000 times since 14 October. It was also accompanied by a caption that read: “There is a good ending to this story, stay tuned.”

Many offered to send fresh calculators or money as well as clothes for her students.

One user, Ashley Timm said: “I’ll mail you mine that was a gift from my late father for the SAT. Please let me know.”

Another user @solojen said: “Do you have an Amazon wishlist for your classroom? I want to help.”

To this message, Mrs L responded that she had recently quit her job as a full-time chemistry teacher and according to her bio she was now a full-time “toddler mom”.

The teacher declined the offers of help but urged users to help their local schools.

Later, Mrs L posted a video update, which she titled part 2.

In that video, she said that even though she never received the calculator back nor knew who took it, she was overwhelmed by all the responses to her appeal to the thief.

Her own students had asked her whether they could put together a GoFundMe page or help replace the stolen calculator with their own money.

In the video, she said, she received a surprise. The teacher received two coats in the exact right sizes for her toddlers, it was reported.

She said in the caption: “Proof that there are 1000s of good people to make up for the bad.”