By TESA STRASSER

The Press-News

After all their hard work it was time to enjoy the spoils of their labor. They wrote many letters to business people and had fundraisers to earn the money for their project. Friday, May 23, was the anxiously awaited day. Some of the third, fourth and fifth grade students at Walker Elementary School had a great time building bears and donating them to Aultman Hospital's pediatric emergency department.

A representative from Build-a-Bear (They call her Care Bear.) led the building process with 90 students, four teachers, an assistant principal, a superintendent and lots of helpers.

The bear building process started with a heart ceremony. The mostly stuffed bears were each given a heart. Students had to run in place with the heart to give it energy and rub it on their ear to help it listen. They had to rub it on their head to make it smart and then kiss it with a wish of good health for the child that will receive it for comfort while in the emergency room.

There were six stations for the youngsters to work their way through. They stitched, and decorated their bears and then colored a cardboard "condo" for them to travel in. The condos also were stuffed with a coloring book and puzzle. More letters were written to the teachers with suggestions of improvements for the project if they do it again next year.

Making the bears was just the beginning of the fun. The group then proceeded to Aultman hospital where they made their "beary" good donation and heard from hospital staff about careers in the medical field. The professionals answered questions created and written out by the students at one of the earlier-mentioned stations.

It was a huge endeavor for the teaching team of Mason Boldizar, Dan Lawver, Frank Kruger and Jim Fletcher. Some writing skills were learned and some huge memories were created.