“I definitely wasn’t expecting a comment like that when I opened the card,” teacher Ryan Saunderson said

NEED TO KNOW

• Ryan Saunderson, a primary school teacher in England, received an end-of-year card from a student that featured a surprising message
• Isla Howell, 10, thanked Saunderson for helping her shine “as much as your head”
• The teacher reacted to Isla poking fun at his bald head

A teacher received a card from one of his young students at the end of the school year — and was surprised when the girl’s heartfelt message took an unexpected turn.

Ryan Saunderson, who teaches fifth-year kids at a primary school in Merseyside, England, received a handwritten card from Isla Howell on July 16 that began with the 10-year-old thanking him for being “a great teacher,” per Kennedy News and Media.

“You have really helped me boost my confidence and let myself shine as much as your head,” Isla continued, poking fun at Saunderson’s bald head.

Isla’s mother, Chloe Howell, said the tween loves to crack jokes at home and came up with the funny simile herself. “Isla wrote it in school. I wasn’t aware of it until she came home and she was telling me,” Chloe, 35, recalled. “We had a bit of a laugh about it.”

Chloe explained that they were confident the card wouldn’t offend the teacher as “Mr. Saunderson has a really good sense of humor with the kids.” She added that the upcoming school year will be the fourth year that Saunderson has taught Isla “so they have a really good rapport.”

Indeed, Saunderson said he was “actually quite happy” that Isla felt comfortable enough to write a message like that and have a little joke with him.

“It was a bit of a surprise when I opened it, but it really made me laugh,” he said, explaining, “It’s a class that I’ve had for a couple of years already, so we’ve already got quite a nice relationship and strong bond in the classroom, so I would never take those kinds of jokes personally or be upset.”

He added, “I just thought that it was really funny and really witty from her.”

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The teacher said he often makes his own jokes about his bald head to his students.

“I’ll make little comments so they’ll know that they can joke about it,” Saunderson shared. “If we’re out on the playground and it starts raining, I’ll say, ‘Quick, let’s get in before my hair gets ruined,’ so it is something that I joke about with them.”
“But I definitely wasn’t expecting a comment like that when I opened the card,” he continued. “It’s not often that [students will] write a comment like that — especially when they’re that age — so I was quite impressed when I read it.”

Isla’s mom shared a photo of her card on X, and the post quickly garnered more than 420,000 views.

“I’m dead proud of her,” Chloe, a teaching assistant, said about the post going viral. “I think it’s hilarious.”

She even suggested Isla might have a future career as a comedian.

“Isla is always taking the mick out of us at home and playing jokes on us,” Chloe said. “She says it all in context — she knows how to joke with people without hurting [people], which for a 10-year-old is really good.”

Chloe also predicts that Isla and Saunderson will laugh and joke about the card “for years to come.”

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