THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 12, 1996 TAG: 9605110122
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
No matter how you look at it, Teddy is quite a bear.
He's 7 years old, lives in Alameda, Calif., likes football, golf, soccer, cats, dogs and cuddling and, until a few weeks ago, was in desperate need of a vacation.
That was when his best friend, Alameda fifth-grader Jason Zellick, packed him into a mailing envelope addressed to ``Caring Person, Any Elementary School, Virginia Beach, Va.,'' enclosed a letter of introduction and shipped him East.
If Teddy needed a vacation before he left Alameda, he was in dire straits by the time he was delivered to King's Grant Elementary a couple of weeks later.
``He was absolutely traumatized when he got here,'' said school secretary Donna Cloutier. (The school staff doesn't know how Teddy ended up at King's Grant.) ``He'd been cooped up in that bag in the post office for so long.''
The trauma was short-lived.
In the two weeks since he arrived he has visited all of the classrooms at King's Grant, had his eyes checked by the school nurse, sat through lessons on everything from art to computer skills, spent numerous overnights with students and staff and gone on field trips.
Lots of field trips.
When he returns to Jason in Alameda next week he'll have souvenirs from the oceanfront and from the zoo, as well as fond memories of places like Mount Trashmore and Kids Cove.
With a little help from assistant principal Doug Daughtry, he's even ventured into broadcasting.
``He's helped me with the morning announcements,'' Daughtry dead-panned. ``He was at his very best during the moment of silence.''
Gerry Clark, a retired Navy Seal who teaches third grade, taught him all about tadpoles. Teddy returned the favor by teaching Clark's class how to find Alameda on the map of California.
Teddy's visit left third grader Nikita Washington wondering whether or not she'd send her own favorite toy, a Lion King look-alike named Nila, on such a trip.
``I think I would,'' she said, still somewhat unsure. ``It would be nice for other kids and teachers to see him and have him around.''
If the California bear needed a substitute mom during his vacation, he found one in attendance secretary, Janet Tetterton with whom he spent most of his evenings.
``I thought he might miss his cats back in Alameda so I took him home to be with mine,'' she said.
It's she who will pack him up, in a nice sturdy box with all of his souvenirs, and ship him back to Alameda. This time he'll go first class.
``Since we kept him for so long we're thinking UPS or Fed Ex this time,'' she explained. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS
Third-grade teacher Gerry Clark shows Teddy some tadpoles his
students have growing in their Kings Grant Elementary classroom.
Teddy, decked out in a Kings Grant Elementary T-shirt, listens to a
story being read to third-grade friends Will Noffke, left, and Stacy
Liszka.
by CNB