Students and staff at Concordia Elementary in San Clemente were crushed after vandals smashed 125 Star Wars Lego sets on display in the school library over the Thanksgiving break.
And no one more so than longtime art teacher Jeanna Bassett, who contributed them. In fact, many of the kits had been assembled by Bassett’s youngest son more than 30 years earlier.
But, as the Orange County Register reports, some local rebels came along this week and provided new hope.
A pair of representatives from Goodwill of Orange County surprised the veteran teacher on Thursday with a brand new, fully assembled Lego Millennium Falcon, which is generally regarded as the crown jewel of the Star Wars Lego fleet.
Adding to OCDE’s One Billion Acts of Kindness tally, Goodwill’s Taylor Harkins and Scott Gano logged 46 man-hours snapping together the kit’s 7,541 pieces in time for the big reveal, according to the newspaper.
“You guys are my heroes!” an emotional Bassett, 72, said after the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs emeged, presumably without a scratch.
Meanwhile, support continues to pour in from Concordia parents who have offered to reassemble Bassett’s vintage sets. The Register says a team of Lego master builders is even scheduled to help with the rebuild.
Millennium Falcon co-pilot Chewbacca could not be reached for comment at press time, but it’s easy to imagine what he’d probably say.
Don’t forget to log your kind acts on the kindness1billion.org website, or download our free app for iOS and Android devices. For more on kindness, check out these recent stories we’ve shared on the OCDE Newsroom, including the “Exploring Kindness” episode of The Deeper Learning Podcast, hosted by Orange County Superintendent Dr. Mijares.