TEMPE, AZ — As the COVID-19 mental health fallout still lingers, compassion is being taught at an East Valley elementary school where kindness is contagious.
Marla Naisant is a special education teacher at Rover Elementary School in Tempe.
Naisant tells ABC15, "You have no idea how much fun [I have], and how much I get from teaching this class."
Naisant also teaches a life-skills course to all students, sharing practical ways to show the challenges her special education students experience daily.
"We put on socks overhand, so people can understand what it feels like to turn a page, and you're not able to use your hands very well."
After 21 years of teaching, Naisant says compassion and inclusion are more important than ever, and that celebrating kindness matters!
"It’s about bridging a gap! It’s about empathy!"
ABC15 was invited to a school assembly to see the student body support Naisant's stand out student, Ahja Wilson.
Her mother, Roberta Wilson tells us, Ahja, who is a nonverbal fifth-grader, co-wrote and published a children’s book called: Will the World be Mean to This Little Tree.
"My husband and I were afraid of having her to go to school. And we were afraid people would be mean to her. But the children were just so welcoming. It was so amazing."
She also tells ABC15, this book is a thank you note to kids at Rover Elementary School for kindness, all because of a teacher named Marla Naisant.
"Miss Marla is amazing. She loves our kids!"
You can find Will the World be Mean to the Little Tree on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble stores.