Thomas Jefferson High School Seniors Get Holiday Surprise From Plano-Based JC Penney

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – The surprises just keep coming for students at Dallas's Thomas Jefferson High School, but this time it's a good one.

JCPenney surprised Thomas Jefferson's senior class with $100 gifts cards at their morning assembly on Tuesday.

"We think it's really important to give back to communities where our associates and our customers live and work and shop and Thomas Jefferson was right in our backyard," Aubrey DeZego of JCPenney said.

Thomas Jefferson High was one of the three campuses torn apart by the 10 tornadoes that hit the Dallas area in October forcing the student body to relocate to a temporary campus.

"A hundred dollars is a lot of money for people who don't have a lot of money," Thomas Jefferson Principal Sandi Massey said. "And it can go a really long way when you use it effectively."

Jenn Rodriguez, a senior at Thomas Jefferson, said she would give her gift card to her mother since she hasn't been able to have a neighborhood job because the commute home is too long.

Any leftover gift cards will be given to homeless students and others in need.