Students Surprise Their Favorite Photography Teacher With a Tribute

We've all had a special teacher or two in our lives who have influenced our development and had a major impact on the types of people we grew up to become. This heartwarming video documents a surprise tribute students put together for their favorite high school photography teacher.

Coming to you from Adobe Creative Cloud, this wonderful video documents a surprise tribute for Chester Maharaj, the photography teacher at Godinez Fundamental High School in Santa Ana, California. A former photojournalist, Maharaj gave up that work to become a teacher, teaching several sections of a course called Art of Digital Photography at the school, the description of which highlights a complete education in media creation and the skills necessary to have a successful career in the modern world. And it's quite clear he's highly beloved, as the video follows him as he thinks he's being interviewed for a documentary, only to be surprised by a group of his students thanking him for the impact he had on their lives. It's a pretty touching video and should put a smile on your face. Did you have a photography or creative arts teacher who had an impact on you? Share your story in the comments! 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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7 Comments

Awesome and inspirational! Thanks for sharing.

I'm not ashamed to admit this brought tears to my eyes. This man has obviously touched lives and it's great to see the appreciation, while he's still around to accept it.

wow...

I love stories like this. Classes in the arts are becoming fewer and fewer in today's public education system ever since the failed 2002 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act known as No Child Left Behind which mandated that all students hit arbitrary scores on standardized tests. We are educating our children without regard to the importance of a critical and creative mind. The more opportunities we can provide for teachers like this can only improve the quality of education of our future leaders.

And now I'm crying at work

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