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Security footage shows assistant principal and student joyfully celebrating their birthdays

"Love is the curriculum."

Courtesy of Arnold Ford/Instagram

Arnold Ford shares a birthday—and birthday joy—with one of his students.

When Arnold Ford went to work on his birthday in February of 2024, he knew he was in for a treat. One of his students, a girl named Cali, has the same birthday as he does, and Ford was ready. As soon as he saw Cali come bounding down the hallway with her arms spread wide, the assistant principal tossed his backpack aside, swooped the girl up, and spun her around in joyful celebration.

Then the two raced down the hallway, arm in arm, so Cali could give him a balloon and a cupcake she had saved for him. All of this was captured on the security cameras at west Philadelphia's Mastery Charter School, Mann Elementary, and the footage has people cheering for amazing educators.

"I’m so grateful to God for allowing me to see another year," Ford wrote when he shared the video on his Instagram page. "I’m even more grateful that LOVE continues to be the centerpiece of my entire life."

"And… as you can see… I’m also grateful that I get to share a birthday with one of my favorite students," he continued. "And yes… she brought me a balloon and a cupcake, and in exchange, I told her she could dress down today. Fair trade if you ask me!"

People are gushing over the exchange in the comments.

"Do y'all teach 25th grade!? I need an elementary school experience do-over!" wrote one person.

"Bro my own parents never been that happy to see me 😭," wrote another.

"Can you imagine marinating in that love on a daily basis? What a gift this man is!" shared another.

Several people pointed out that no one else in the video so much as blinked, which is a testament to the fact that this wasn't out of the ordinary. Clearly, Mr. Ford brings this energy to work every day.

"I think it’s important for us to celebrate WITH our students and families," Ford told Upworthy. "[Cali's] birthday is a big deal to her, and so is mine. We talk about it ALL year. So when that day came, what you saw was just a natural, genuine reaction that we both had. She was excited to be celebrating me, and I was excited to be celebrating her."

celebrate, happy birthday, students, joy, happiness, celebration Students and faculty celebrating one another is pure joy. Giphy

Educators like Ford can make such an enormous difference in children's lives, transforming a school into a place filled with positive interactions where kids know people genuinely care about and enjoy being around them. That's what Ford loves about his job as well.

"It really is the reciprocal nature of the work," he told Upworthy. "We get so much more than we ever put out. Love. Joy. Laughter. The more we sow those things, we see them return exponentially in this work. That’s why when I often say, 'Love is the curriculum,' it’s because I recognize how blessed I am to be able to put positivity and joy at the center of my experience with them. It’s humbling."

love, teaching, school, assistant principal, administrators, educators "Love is the curriculum." - Arnold Ford, Assistant PrincipalCanva

"In other words, I love that I don’t have to wait until Fridays to get paid." he adds.

Educating kids involves so much more than teaching them academics. Here's to Mr. Ford and all of the dedicated, incredible educators out there who pour their love into helping children learn and grow and thrive. They really do deserve all the balloons and cupcakes—and all the pay raises as well.

You can follow Arnold Ford on Instagram.

This article originally appeared last year.

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Woman asks friends to bring gossip to her party instead of gifts, and wow, did they deliver

The 'tea' party brought people together from all walks of life.

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Everyone brought their own tea.

As you start to get older, it's inevitable that your birthday begins to lose a bit of luster. Sometimes it's because of the other things you have going on in life. Parents usually focus more on their kids' birthdays and holidays, so their own birthdays become a bit of an afterthought. Others just get tired of doing the same kind of things year after year: throwing an unimaginative party to celebrate getting a year older. Yay, I guess? There's also the small matter of our diverse relationships. Most of us have different friend groups, family, in-laws—what are we supposed to do? Mix them all together in an awkward stew of forced small talk?

And let's not even get started on presents. What does a 30- or 40-something-year-old really need when it comes to birthday presents? Maybe something meaningful or thoughtful from a spouse or a close loved one, but certainly most adults have no desire for all their friends to shower them with random gifts they don't want, need, or could buy themselves.

One woman, Liz Migliaccio, decided to reimagine the grown-up birthday party. For her 36th, she invited all her family and close friends and asked them, in lieu of gifts, to bring something far more interesting.

Migliaccio and her wife, Cayla DeRegis, recounted the invitation to Newsweek:

"For my birthday...join me for some cozy wine and please come tell me your insane co-worker gossip or how your boss is the worst," it read. "Regale me with your salacious romantic encounter or unhinged dating story. Get really detailed about someone else's business and we can full form opinions that no one asked for. I'm 36—the world's hottest age and hot people like hot gossip."

It was a clever way of throwing an entertaining party with family and friends from all walks of life, all while giving the strangers in attendance good icebreakers with one another. As seen in a now-viral TikTok from DeRegis, guests took turns spilling their juiciest bit of tea. The party go-ers are absolutely rapt as you can see in the clip:

@cayladeregis

the greatest gift there is ☕️

11 million people watched the video on TikTok, with commenters unanimously agree: The 'tea party' was absolutely genius.

In the interview with Newsweek, Migliaccio said the best story of the night came from a guest who attended a wedding that never happened.

"A friend of a friend went to a family wedding a while back," Migliaccio said. "[She] had to go buy a long-sleeve dress for the wedding. As the receipt is being printed out, she gets a text that the ceremony is being called off, and instead, the bride and groom are just going to 'celebrate their relationship. ... They got there and found out the bride and her family weren't coming anymore so it ended up just being a celebration of him. My friend said it was the most over-the-top, beautiful wedding she'd ever been to but there was no bride."

gossip, gossip girl, leighton meester, rumors, storytelling, entertainment, dramaThis explains the popularity of Gossip GirlGiphy

Other guests brought stories of dramatic breakups and relationship scandal. Others brought their best watercooler gossip from work. Every single person in attendance was entertained. So were the viewers and commenters on TikTok:

"In this economy this is the best gift to bring"

"I can feel how HEAVY the tea is through the screen"

"You know it’s crazy tea when people have empty glasses but are INVESTED in the story"

"I LOVE this concept- this would make me want to go to a party ... just be messy and then go home to my drama free life"

Dozens of users claimed they would be stealing this idea for their own parties in the near future.

Why is the gossip party such a brilliant idea? It comes down to the power of storytelling.

It's really stressful and challenging to mingle with people you don't know well or at all, whether you're dragged along to a spouse's work event or attending a party where the guest of honor has several different friend groups. It can be tough to find enough to talk about beyond just surface level small talk.

But one thing all human beings have in common is that we love stories. Not only is a great story super entertaining (even one about mundane but juicy everyday drama), studies show our brain activity syncs up with others when they tell us a story. That's something small talk and get-to-know-you chat can't achieve. So, the genius of the Tea Party is that it offers every guest a perfect icebreaker with all the others, lots of laughs, and a feeling of having made great connections with the other guests by the end of the night.

I think most people on their birthdays just want everyone to have a great time celebrating them with no drama. Well, maybe just a little bit of drama.

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Guests at a Finland Airbnb surprised the host when they saw he was alone on his birthday

This is what human connection is all about.

Photo credit: Canva

Sometimes the simplest gesture can mean the world.

Staying in an Airbnb can be an adventure, sometimes for the worse but often for the better. The Internet is full of both heartwarming and horrible experiences people have had renting spaces from strangers—or having strangers rent spaces from them—but the popular short-term rental platform is a poster child for the "sharing economy" and the human connections that can come along with it.

One example of how staying at a stranger's house can lead to a beautiful interaction comes from two young women who stayed at an Airbnb in Finland. Jessica Judith shared a video of her and her travel companion singing "Happy Birthday" to an elderly man over a cake filled with candles.

"Our Airbnb host was alone on his birthday," Jessica shared in the caption, "and God knew to put two women who care too much about birthdays to celebrate with him." The women clapped and sang, then hugged the man before he blew out his candles.

@jess.judith

Tarmo fue el mejor host que he tenido en airbnb, nos llevo a ver los reindeers y todos los dias nos esperaba en su casa con cafe y galletitas listas, te queremos mucho Tarmo! que honor poder celebrar tu cumpleaños contigo!! kiitos kaikesta


"Tarmo was the best host I ever had on airbnb," the caption reads. "He took us to watch the reindeers and every day he was waiting for us at his house with coffee and cookies ready. We love you so much Tarmo! What an honor to be able to celebrate your birthday with you!!! Kiitos kaikesta."

(Kiitos kaikesta means "thanks for everything" in Finnish.)

The video was viewed over 32 million times as people chimed in with positive feedback on the women's thoughtfulness.

"I learned some people host Airbnb because of loneliness not money. I had the sweetest host one time who was just lonely and wanted company. Y’all made his whole year."

"You guys just gave that man a core memory."

"My soul 😭 he is someone’s baby 😭 I know his late momma was smiling down. All I could see is the little boy in him here. 😭🤍🤎 you two did a beautiful thing that’ll he’ll never forget. 😭💕"

birthday, blow out candles, birthday cake, little boy, babiesHappy Birthday GIFGiphy

"As a mother , knowing he’s someone son and was once just a little boy thank you for being so kind 🩵 I hope if my son was every alone [on] a birthday then someone would show him such kindness as you."

"This is how we’re supposed to live as humans 🥹."

"This should be an airbnb commercial."

"This is literally what airbnb was created for btw to bring people together."

Even Airbnb commented with, "When the guests make the host feel hosted 🥹."

What we don't see in the video is how the women communicated with their host. He didn't speak any English and they didn't speak Finnish, so they used translation apps to talk to one another. In another video, Jessica shared a bit more about their sweet host.


@jess.judith

la experiencia mas bonita


"This is Tarmo," she wrote. "He was our Airbnb host in Finland. He lives alone with his dog Peppi and his daughter set up this Airbnb (little cottage next to his house) which he takes care of the cleaning. He always had the table set with coffee and pastries waiting for us. He doesn't speak English but we used a translator and would have amazing conversations. Everything was so special and at the end of our stay he said, 'I hope this is not the last time I see you in this lifetime.' Best Airbnb experience ever."

As a short-term rental host and someone who has stayed at countless Airbnbs while traveling, I can attest to the fact that some guest-host interactions are truly special. As a host, I once had a guest from China who insisted on cooking my family a 3-course Chinese meal from scratch. As a guest, I rented a home in Greece with my family where the owner's mother, who lived on the property, would bring us fresh-baked Greek pastries from the local bakery every other morning with the warmest smile and most gracious welcome. As both host and guest, my experiences have been overwhelmingly positive.

The sharing economy can be wonderful when people are open and welcoming to the experience of connecting with others, and Tarmo and his kind guests are a perfect example.

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Woman books handyman on Facebook, realizes it's his birthday and surprises him with cake

She went all out to show kindness to a total stranger.

totsionna/Instagram

Woman surprises handyman who helped her with birthday cake.

Everyone needs a good handyman for those big (or small) projects around the house. Whether it's a task you've been avoiding or requires a skill you simply can't perform, they are there to save the day. So when Totsionna (@totsionna) went searching for a handyman on Facebook to help her unmount a large TV in her home, she found Reggie (@qualitylabor614).

After she booked him, she saw on his profile that the day he was set to unmount her TV was his birthday. So, she decided to surprise him with a birthday cake–even though he was a total stranger.

"Booked a guy on Facebook to unmount my TV & seen it was his birthday," she captioned the video of her epic surprise for him.

In the video, she walks into her living room where Reggie and his co-worker are getting to work unmounting the TV. And in her hands she is holding a birthday cake with white and yellow icing that says 'Happy Birthday Reggie' on it with six lit candles. Once she turns the corner, she says, "Happy Birthday, Reggie!"

Once he sees it, a smile lights up across his face, and he tells her, "You're crazy!" She hands him the cakes and says, "Here you go!" And he responds, "Appreciate it."

He takes the cake in one hand, and puts his drill in the other. They all begin to sing 'Happy Birthday' to him, and Reggie's co-worker pulls out his phone to record the special moment. Everyone is beaming and taking in the moment. Reggie blows the candles out, and his co-worker is so touched that he tells Totsionna sweetly, "Thank you so much!" Totsionna laughs and jokingly ribs him about why he's saying thank you given it wasn't even his birthday surprise. But he is clearly touched by her kind and thoughtful gesture.

Reggie notes that it is Ramadan so he can't enjoy the cake just yet, but he will. Totsionna's friend asks Reggie how old he turned, and he replies that he is 30. "That's a big one!" she says. Totsionna asks him what he's doing to celebrate, and he says he has something planned in two weeks. He invites her to join, and she says, "I'll come!"

Totsionna's heartfelt birthday surprise was praised by viewers.

"homie gon think about ts all his life 💯💯this was so sweet !!" one commented.

"'Why you sayin thank you?' lol he appreciates the love being shown, and the energy rubbed off! ❤️ We love you Tot you always doin random cool sh*t."

"This so wholesome and he saying thank you cause he was happy for him he just enjoying the moment 😂 😂😂😂."

Another touched viewer summed up her good deed perfectly: "I love people who are considerate of others💚 who would’ve thought to come to work and receive a birthday cake from a stranger basically? This speaks volumes about your personality. I think we did a great job with helping to make this special person famous🏅. 🫡💜🔥👍🏾."

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