Gone viral: Wichita teacher receives gift from students, cries tears of joy
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) -- Back when she was 13 years old, Yvette "Pow Pow" Powell met a promising quarterback named Kordell Stewart. Powell was smitten.
"He was gonna be my husband," Powell said with a laugh.
The University of Colorado quarterback was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Thus began Powell's love for the black and gold.
"I've been a Steelers fan since I was 13", Powell said.
She carried that fandom into adulthood and into her social studies classroom at Wichita's Northeast Magnet High School. Powell has been teaching there for 13 years, and everyone there knows she's a diehard Steelers fan.
Her students love her—particularly those in her sophomore U.S. History class.
"Ms. Powell is a hard-working teacher. Probably the hardest-working teacher here," said sophomore Salene Tran. "She works two jobs. She doesn't complain. She goes above and beyond for everyone."
"We feel she takes her job seriously, and she loves the students very much. So, I really care about her and this class," said sophomore Leonel Sweet.
Sweet came up with an idea and proposed it to his classmates. Other students collected money from the rest of the class, and Sweet purchased "Ms. Pow Pow," a special gift.
"We all followed along with it because we know she's a big Steelers fan," said Tran.
The class bought their teacher a customized Steelers jersey and presented it to her on the Wednesday students returned from Christmas break.
Tran and fellow sophomore Elijah Defore grabbed their phones and recorded the moment.
"In the background of the video, you can see a lot of us putting our hands over our mouths and not knowing how to react. And so, her reaction was really wholesome," said Defore.
"I saw those numbers on a black jersey. I knew something was going on immediately. It hit me to my core because I could tell it was a Steelers jersey," said Powell.
"I'm not a crier, but I was gonna shed a tear, most likely. It was heartwarming to see her so happy, excited and crying," said Sweet.
The back of the jersey features the nickname "Pow Pow" and the number 25.
"That's the year they graduate. This group will be graduating in 2025," said Powell.
The video was posted on both TikTok and Instagram. Within a day, it went viral.
"When it hit a million views, that hadn't happened to any of us before," said Defore.
"Now it has over eight million views across all platforms," as of Friday morning, said Tran.
For her part, Powell cares more about the love shown to her by her students than any number of video views on social media.
"This class is special to me, and yeah, it means a lot. It means a lot. This is probably one of the most thoughtful things anyone has ever done," Powell said.
The Steelers noticed the video as well, replying with a message that reads, "Pow Pow for the win!" and "Officially a Ms Pow Pow fan."