There is really no one like a good teacher. As you get older and go through life, you’ll likely always remember the hardworking teachers who helped educate you during your formative years or showed you kindness and compassion during a rough patch.
Genevieve Via Cava was a modest and kind woman who worked as a special needs teacher for over 45 years. Even though she was known among the staff and students at New Jersey’s Dumont School District, not even her close friends were aware of the huge secret Via Cava had been keeping to herself for several years.
In 2011, Via Cava died at the age of 89, and even though it took a few years to work out her finances and estate wishes, the former teacher ended up leaving $1 million to her former school district.
According to People, Via Cava was quite the penny pincher and didn’t spend much of her money on anything other than bills and necessities. So for her former colleagues and friends to learn that the former special needs teacher had “quietly amassed a fortune worth several million dollars,” it was quite a shock.
The news outlet reports that when Via Cava’s estate was finalized, the superintendent was then delivered a check for $1 million and thought the generous act was “incredible.”
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The Dumont School District’s superintendent divulged that the former special needs teacher’s generous gift would fund an annual scholarship worth $25,000 to help make an impact “in the lives of the kids she loved.”
To hear more about the amazing gift this teacher surprised her former school with, check out the full video posted by Wonderbot.
