Beloved Florida teacher died — but gave her 31 students the biggest surprise by leaving them her $2.8 million estate

A teacher has the power to leave a mark on her students. Be it through the powerful lessons, the aura, the love or even an unexpected memory and gesture. However, one wouldn’t expect a teacher to leave all of that along with a gift worth $2.8 million. New College of Florida professor Cris Hassold decided to leave all of her life savings to 31 of her former students who had made an impact on her life, per NPR. The students who expected to receive a memory of their teacher never fathomed that it would be something that would transform their lives. It is a gift that goes beyond monetary value and speaks of the unconditional love of a kind. 

Hassold had been a professor of art history for 50 long years, per PEOPLE. During that time, she had 31 students who touched her heart. Likewise, the teacher, too, had made an impact on the former students. With unorthodox teaching methods, sometimes humiliating and sometimes fun, Hassold saw those students as her own children. She’d even hire them to clean her home. Classes at New College of Florida were specially for gifted students who couldn’t afford private classes but had a keen interest to learn the best.

Over the years, analyzing brush strokes, reviews and diving deep into the work of historic art, Hassold often left her students astonished. One of her students, Nicole Archer, is now an associate professor of art history and gender studies at Montclair State University in New Jersey. She recalled asking Hassold about her family and learning that her beloved professor had none. But she had the most unique reasoning. “What would I do with a husband? That would just be a pain in the neck,” she said to Archer at the time. “It was kind of like the most amazing moment I had ever had. She is just herself. It was a type of woman I had never met,” the now 49-year-old remarked.

Similar to this vibrant conversation were several other exchanges the 31 students shared through the years over informal dinners with Hassold. Another former student named Ryan White, now running a New York City-based knife-sharpening company, said, “She didn’t have a family, but we were her family. She adopted us and we adopted her.” Hassold had a stroke in April 2020 and a few months later, the teacher passed away. The students held a memorial online where they celebrated her life and time with them, recalling the fondest memories. A year later, in August 2021, each of them received a letter explaining her financial savings and that they had just inherited a portion of it.

The amounts varied between $26,000 to $560,000, depending on how well Hassold knew the students and how much they needed it. Each of them had vivid but purposeful uses, whether surgery, medical bills, down payment and more. White, who received $26,000, was moved to learn the reason behind Hassold working until the age of 85. “She wanted to give as much away as she could,” he remarked. Archer, who received $100,000, was astonished. “I truly, honestly believed that I read it wrong. I remember following the number with my finger, making sure I understood how many zeros it was,” she said. But knowing Hassold, she knew it was as if she were saying, “Here’s a little something to help you be you.”