Santa Rosa celebrity chef and Food Network star Guy Fieri went back to his tiny Northern California hometown of Ferndale recently with a big thank you gift for one of his favorite teachers.

Fieri visited Fran Fischer, his 8th-grade teacher at Ferndale Elementary School as part of the California Lottery's “Thank A Teacher” program, which takes California natives back to their roots to showcase the public school system.

In a video posted by the California Lottery, Fieri tells the story of how Fischer got him involved in a program called National History Day, which encourages students around the country to conduct original research on historical topics of interest. Winning the contest with a paper on the origins of the pretzel, he says, made him see how much of an impact Fischer had on students.

During his visit, Fieri not only thanked his teacher with a big hug, but gave her a cruise to anywhere in the world.

“You helped me see the world in such a big way. I want you to see the world in a really great way,” Fieri told her, as she began to cry.

Watch the video here:

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