CUTE: Kindergarten teacher surprised with proposal in front of students

HODGES, S.C. (WHNS/Gray News) – A kindergarten teacher in South Carolina got the surprise of a lifetime when her boyfriend proposed to her in front of students and faculty Friday afternoon.

Kindergarten teacher Jerricka Scott and her boyfriend Jahmar Tate have been dating since July 2018.

Scott said a proposal was always her dream, but Tate went above and beyond.

“Every little girl dreams about this opportunity or this moment in their life, and it was beyond my expectation,” Scott said.

Tate said the proposal is something he’d been planning for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the process down. However, it didn’t stop him from finally popping the question.

“I kind of ramped it up about two, three weeks ago trying to really make it happen before the end of the school year,” Tate said.

With a microphone, Tate asked Scott to marry him, surrounded by a cheering crowd of students and staff.

Through excitement and smiles, Tate said he knew from the very first date that Scott would be his wife.

“The conversation was so deep and in-depth, and her morals and values aligned with mine,” Tate said. “I was like, ‘this is an amazing woman, I would be a fool to leave or let her leave me.’”

When the couple started dating in 2018, Scott said it was a time when she wasn’t expecting to meet someone.

“He came at a time when I wasn’t looking, when I was tired of looking, but he was just what I needed,” Scott said.

Tate wanted to include his fiancé's students at Hodges Elementary School in the special moment, and he even had candy bags ready for them to celebrate.

“It was important for me because these are the students she is with all the time,” Tate said. “It’s important for me to make sure she knows that we’re a family together. It’s me and you, but they’re a part of your family, [so] they’re apart of mine, too.”

Tate’s consideration of Scott’s students had her in tears.

“The fact that he included what I love the most, which is teaching and my babies, that just means the world to me,” Scott said.

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