Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Adele cried when she reunited with Joe Hawkins after he shared the story on Facebook
“Some of my happiest days were spent in your classroom”
As Adele raced through her set at the Knebworth Academy last Friday, she told a story about one day nearly 20 years ago.
When she was eight years old, the south London school’s maths teacher, Mr Joe Hawkins, gifted her a handful of his notes.
“On a whim I asked the teacher to hold them for me,” she said.
When she got home that day, Mr Hawkins said he had forgotten to deliver the notes and threw them out.
Emotional reunion
For the past few days, Adele’s social media followers had been sharing information of their own reunions with teachers, and one of the tweets that really got her talking was Mr Hawkins’.
He told how he came to surprise Adele – who has since gone on to win six Grammy Awards – after reading about her posts on Twitter.
I just broke the internet after Adele tweeted a video of her school reunion telling all about my past and my role… pic.twitter.com/YIgyZGoXr0 — joe hawkins (@joe_hawkins) June 21, 2018
After getting in touch, he asked the singer to send some of her handwritten notes for him to sign.
“You were my rock during those [altered grade] checks,” Adele wrote.
She then joined Mr Hawkins in the maths department and the two students – who were teachers – became close.
Image copyright Adele Image caption Adele thanked Mr Hawkins on Twitter
“You really did change my life,” Adele wrote.
“Thanks for always believing in me.”
Mr Hawkins told fans: “Adele wrote back her own school notes I will keep. She is a brilliant human being and I cannot thank her enough.”