Oasis Middle School students make teddy bears for diabetic children

Middle school students showcase technical skills and kindness by making modified teddy bears for diabetic children.

The bears help comfort the children diagnosed with diabetes and make them feel represented.

Each student plays a role in the process. Some dress the stuffed animal, others sew them and others press them. On Thursday, WINK News learned it’s more than just a class; it’s a work bigger than themselves.

With every detail the students at Oasis Middle School put on the bears, they impact diabetic children.

“We made bears so that people can see that they’re not different. They’re the same as everyone else,” sixth-grade student Sophia Scorelle said.

Each stuffed animal made by the students has a glucose monitor. The class is working hard to make 90 bears, which will be donated to diabetic children at Gollisano Children’s Hospital.

“There’s typically not many differences represented in toy stores, especially prosthetics, hearing aids, whatever the case may be. And so the glucose monitor came up next. And it’s just as pertinent we have students in our school in our elementary school who have Type 1 Diabetes,” Oasis Middle School teacher Jenny Schoonover said.

The students share a sincere sense of pride when they ship the bears off to the hospital. For the students, it’s about the impact the bears make.

“I try to do stuff for other people but here I can actually make a difference,” Scorelle said. “Once they get the bears, they feel like a little less sad and more that people see what they’re going through.”

This is the first year of the project and their first shipment of 25 bears went to a children’s hospital in Memphis. Their goal is to expand their reach, impacting kids across the country.