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Student stuns teacher with ‘surprising’ test answer: ‘Had honestly never seen this’

A Kentucky high schooler is earning plenty of online kudos after his teacher shared the heartwarming way he concluded his exam.

Winston Lee, who teaches history at Letcher County Central High School in Whitesburg, Ky., shared a photo of the test to Facebook on Feb. 21.

The image, which has since been shared more than 62,000 times, showed the offer one student made just before turning in his nearly perfect exam.

"Have to shout this out. Had honestly never seen this, " Lee wrote, before showing the handwritten note from what he described as a "straight A+ guy."

"If you could, could you give my bonus points to whoever scores the lowest?" the student's note asked.

Lee told Good Morning America he was "surprised" by the message, which had zero specifications about who it would be helping.

"He didn't care if he considered them a friend, didn't care if they were cool, didn't matter to him what situation had caused them to score lower, he just wanted to help, be kind, commit a loving act," Lee wrote of his student.

The teacher said that the student's final score would have been a 99 out of 100, if not for his five-point donation. He told Good Morning America that he decided to go through with the offer, giving the points to a student who wouldn't have passed the test without them.

"She was really thankful so it turned out great," Lee said. "She does not know who gave her the points."

Lee's post attracted thousands of comments, with many Facebook users praising the student's selfless and kind act. Others, however, were more critical, saying they saw the donation as a handout.

"Nice gesture but it doesn't help anyone," one user wrote.

"How is getting points you didn't earn 1) going to get you to understand the material and 2) help you live up to the expectations of the higher grade you just received?" another commented.

But Lee stands by his decision, telling Good Morning America that, in his experience, some students have life situations or personal traits that make it harder to succeed.

"Not all are great test-takers or in a comfortable situation at home that allows them to focus on studying," he said. "I feel really great that it helped this student from 58 points to passing. We don't know what her situation may have been."

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