From Local 3 News: It's been one week since the Nashville mass shooting, where three adults and three children were killed. A group o
From Local 3 News: It’s been one week since the Nashville mass shooting, where three adults and three children were killed.
A group of Cleveland State Community College students in Athens decided they wanted to show support to the Covenant students and families.
The Family Dynamics class at the McMinn Education Center prepares students to be early childhood educators. The small class meets every other week and talks about current events, big or small, that could affect a child.
“We talked about the tornadoes in Mississippi, and we talked about Nashville. We talked about what we are going to do as advocates in this situation, and as teachers, this is something they may deal with,” said Winona Christiansen, the Early Childhood Education Instructor.
Athens may be almost 200 miles from Nashville, but they still felt the impact from the tragic shooting.
Taylor Conti, working towards being a third-grade teacher, said the shooting broke her heart.
“I can’t think of what I would do if I was them because I’ve never been through a situation like this,” expressed Conti. Conti and her classmates decided since they couldn’t physically hug each of the students, they would do the next best thing.
“One of our students said that in her free time, she makes teddy bears and that she would just need help stuffing them. And so we are going to make 50, and they are going to be for the classmates who lost classmates and also the families who lost their loved ones.”
With her sewing machine, fabrics, pattern, and pin, Conti, who’s been sewing since she was six years old, got to work on making the teddy bear shells.
“It took about two weeks, and we currently are only halfway done with the bears, but we should be able to finish them by today.”
While sewing the bears together, her four classmates are busy stuffing them. An orange ribbon will complete the bear’s look, representing gun violence awareness.
“What we’re trying to do here is help them feel like they have their childhood back because it feels like they’re losing it. When they have to go through these adult situations,” said Conti.
Each bear will come with a note explaining who helped make it and its’ purpose.
“We want you to know that we’re here for you, and if you feel scared, if you’re feeling lonely, or even if you feel happy, you have this teddy bear to be with you to go through those emotions with you,” explained Christiansen.
“You’re not alone, and I know it’s going to be hard right now, and I can’t say that it gets better because I’ve never been in this situation before, but at somebody who has lost a lot of family members or friends, over time it does get a lot easier,” added Conti.
The bears will be shipped out Wednesday to Covenant School, and hopefully students will be able to have them in their hands in a week.
