Today, the Awesome is in Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s been a hard year for high school English teacher Jeff Swicegood. He recently lost his mother to an aggressive form of breast cancer that, from diagnosis to the end, took just 9 weeks. All the time, Jeff cared for her because his Dad had died years ago from cancer, and Jeff was all his mom had. In an effort to lift his spirits, his students secretly pooled their money together and bought Mr. Swicegood a fresh, new pair of plaid Vans, his favorite brand of shoes. The whole moment of him staring into the bag and being brought to tears was caught on video and has amassed more than 11 million views. One of those to watch the video was the Vans shoe company, who called the moment unbelievably precious and then surprised all the students with gift cards so they could go get their own pair of Vans.  A special moment highlighting the impact of teachers on students and the student impact on their teachers, THAT’S AWESOME.