BATON ROUGE — Every teacher at Basis Baton Rouge Materra Charter School got a pair of Nike shoes on Friday.

The faculty was awarded the shoes for raising the third most money among basic schools nationwide, and for getting an "A" on their state report card for the second year in a row.

Principal Jared Lamb said they wanted to do this for teachers to show their appreciation for their hard work in getting the school to an “A” grade this year.

"It's fantastic these educators pour their heart and souls into our students, they make sure our students are getting what they need academically. They are creating joyful classroom environments so to just see and show our token appreciation is important to us," Lamb said.

Teachers were told they'd be getting just a simple pair of slippers to honor their hard work all year until they opened their new pair of Nikes.

"I have to say throughout the year our admin does a lot for us just small things that make us feel appreciated so this was just the icing on the cake," Rosalind Pitcher, a teacher from the school, said.

"I think we all were just talking about why it this a big deal just to get slippers, and then when we opened our boxes it was so exciting it is such a great place to work what a wonderful surprise, we just feel very appreciated working here " Armetta Wright, another teacher from the school, said.

Lamb said plans to keep on the tradition of surprising teachers every year.