A BARRABA teddy bear has returned after 18 months in the United States, where he’s helped boost the spirits of young survivors of a school massacre that shocked the world.
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Theo has returned to the children at Barraba Central School who decided, with teacher Lin Irving, early last year that their furry friend could help students at Sandy Hook Elementary School as much as he had helped them
Sandy Hook, in Newtown, Connecticut, suffered the loss of 20 children and six staff members at the hands of a lone gunman on December 14, 2012.
So moved were Mrs Irving and her students by the community’s loss, they decided their much-loved class mascot could help put smiles back on the faces of their American peers.
“He wanted to bring to the students and teachers at this school the same love and support he received when he joined us at Barraba Central School,” Mrs Irving said.
She said Theo had been part of the school since the end of 2011, and quickly became an important fixture in the classroom, helping children with their reading or comforting them when they were anxious or upset.
One of the parents made him his own uniform and he started going home with students, enjoying horseriding, motorbike outings and fishing and even holidays to the snow and Fiji.
So, with the students’ blessing, Mrs Irving packed him up and sent him with a letter to Sandy Hook Elementary after the terrible events of last December 14.
There were no expectations he would return, she said, but last term, a parcel arrived at Barraba Central and Theo emerged, complete with his new uniform, a Sandy Hook Elementary T-shirt.
There were also letters of thanks from the seven- and eight-year-old students who’d taken him to their hearts, with the class teacher saying of all the things they’d received, Theo was particularly special.
Allie wrote, “Thank you for sending Theo with (sic) us. It made my friends and me smile. Thank you for caring for our class. It made me so excited when our teacher pulled out Theo. I loved it when it was my turn to have Theo the bear.”
The students who sent him off nearly two years ago are now in years 5 and 6 and taught, coincidentally, by Mrs Irving.
She said they were thrilled to have him back and glad to hear he’d made such a difference in so many young lives.