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Toronto teacher reunited with favourite student on Metro Morning

"He was one of those students that made every day so much fun."

That's how Toronto teacher Alicia Ebbert remembers one of her favourite students. She started teaching in 2002, in a portable full of grade four students at Thorncliffe Park Public School in East York, but Siraat Mustafa stood out.

"He worked really hard on everything that came his way ... he was just really inquisitive and totally engaged and it was just wonderful," she said.

To celebrate the end of the school year, CBC's Metro Morning surprised Ebbert with a special visitor-- that outstanding student, Siraat Mustafa.

The radio show learned of the pair through a Facebook post, where they asked for stories from teachers and students. Both Ebbert and Mustafa replied.

"Siraat was intelligent and thirsty for knowledge, never absent, always positive and smiling and had an amazing sense of humour. He truly stood out in the sea of students," Ebbert wrote.

"You made us dream... you made us discover... you made us hope," Mustafa replied.

"She really is a gift to the education system," Mustafa said. He also credits her with his love for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"She dedicated an entire class session to talk about that one playoff run that we had against the Senators and it was awesome," he said.

Mustafa, who immigrated to Canada from Pakistan in 1996, now works at a downtown Toronto law firm after completing his undergraduate degree at York University. His next step is to apply for law school.

Ebbert says she'll take some credit for Mustafa's career path.

"He liked to respectfully argue, and I said 'You know, you'll make a good lawyer one day,'" she said.