Students in Phoenix raise money to help their high school government teacher and his wife
A group of Arizona high school seniors came to the aid of a beloved teacher by raising nearly $10,000 to help cover the cost of his wife’s crucial heart surgery.
"We just need more kind acts, no matter how small it is or how large it is," Parker Bond, 18, a 2023 graduate of Arcadia High School in Phoenix, told Fox News Digital.
"A teacher like Mr. Guy — who gave so much to us when he was down in a situation like this — was able to receive back because of his kindness and all he did for us," Bond added.
Clayton Guy, 62, has taught government and economics at Arcadia High School in Phoenix since 2004.
This past year, Bond was in his class.
Parker Bond (pictured on far right) and some classmates raised nearly $10,000 to help pay for the surgery for their teacher's wife. (Parker Bond)
"Mr. Guy always has a lot of energy," Bond said. "He tries to include everybody in the class, so he wasn't one of those quiet teachers who just sits there and expects you to do it."
He added, "He is very involved with the participation, and he could talk to anybody. He’s just very outgoing. He could have a conversation with anyone."
A teacher since 1997, Guy said he enjoys the focus on government and economics because he feels those subjects are useful to his students.
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"We have them look at the stock market and supply and demand," Guy told Fox News Digital.
"In government, we study the Constitution and current events. I love talking to them about [how] the arguments that we had [with] the Federalists and anti-Federalists are the same ones we have today. We just keep arguing the same thing over and over and over again."
Bond (pictured on the left) would regularly visit his teacher, Clayton Guy, to check on him and ask how he was doing. (Clayton Guy)
Bond said that Guy made the subject interesting to him and his fellow students.
"I mean, government can be a very boring class, depending on the teacher," Bond said. "But some of the lessons we did, like a mock congress, were interesting. So we did a lot of fun lessons instead of just taking notes and learning that way."
Guy said his teaching style is to get the students talking during class.
"I hate rows. I hate students sitting quietly. So, it's typically a loud class where they can move and walk around," Guy added.
"I think just trying to spread more kindness in the world — you'll get a lot more back."
— Student Parker Bond
But last spring, the students sensed a change in Guy’s demeanor, Bond said.
"He wasn't that energetic person that we were used to for the entire year," Bond said.
"He was pretty quiet. We could tell that something was off. We didn't know what it was, but he did end up telling us."
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Guy explained that his wife, Angel Guy, 59, was having chest pains.
After extensive doctor appointments and tests, she would need open-heart surgery due to blockage.
Teacher Clayton Guy (left) along with his wife, Angel Guy. She saw doctors after experiencing chest pains — and was told she would need open-heart surgery. "Finally I had to tell students what was going on," Clayton Guy said. (Clayton Guy)
"So we'd take days off, meet surgeons — and then finally I had to tell students what was going on," Guy said.
"I was missing days and missing time, and on March 11, we did the surgery. Then I had to be out from that day on, because I was her nurse and the person who would give her the pills and take care of her and be at the hospital."
Bond said he and a few other students researched the details of Angel Guy's heart surgery and learned that it was pricey, "even with insurance."
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"We knew he was very stressed. With his wife needing open-heart surgery — that's not a very fun thing to have to go through."
Clayton Guy's students looked into the costs of the heart surgery required for his wife (not pictured). So far they've raised nearly $10,000. (iStock)
Bond said he and the other students decided to fundraise for Angel Guy's surgery.
The teenagers came up with a plan — but first they ran it by their teacher.
They set a goal of raising $10,000.
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"I came in one morning and I told him that we wanted to do that and he was very grateful," Bond said about his teacher's reaction.
Clayton Guy was "honored" that his students wanted to help him and his wife. "It kind of made me cry," he told Fox News Digital. "People were so kind." (Clayton Guy)
"My first reaction was, ‘No, don't worry about it.' And then I was talking to some other teachers and they're like, 'Well, if people want to help, there's nothing wrong with that.'"
Guy said he was taken aback by the students’ genuine desire to help.
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"I was just honored," he said.
"It kind of made me cry. People were so kind."
"The students did it on their own. They did it without prompting from a teacher or anybody else."
— Clayton Guy
He added that while some teens today might get a bad rap, his students are far from selfish.
"I mean, yes, they're on their phones," Guy said. "But they care about people. They have friends and they care about people. Parker would always come in and talk. He would always ask, ‘How was your weekend? What did you do? How's your day going?'"
The students started a GoFundMe account and the contributions poured in.
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"We raised a couple hundred bucks in the first day," Bond said.
He added, "Now we're almost to the $10,000 goal."
Clayton Guy was able to attend graduation to watch Parker Bond and his other students (not pictured) walk across the stage. (iStock)
Angel Guy is recovering well, her husband said.
"She [is] able to drive, so that’s good because she's been in the back seat for six to eight weeks," said Clayton Guy.
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"I think she’s doing well, but you hear it takes six months to heal. Everybody's different, but she's in good spirits and she's happy."
Clayton Guy said his wife, Angel, has been in "good spirits" and "she's happy" since her surgery. The couple felt honored and grateful that the students helped out the way they did. (Clayton Guy)
As for what Guy’s students did to support her, Angel Guy said she was "overjoyed" and "couldn’t believe they did it."
"The students were very kindhearted, and they did it on their own. They did it without prompting from a teacher or anybody else," Guy said.
As for student Parker Bond, he said this was the first time he's been able "to contribute like this to someone else's life" — and that it felt good.
Gretchen Eichenberg is a contributing reporter for Fox News Digital.
