Wellsville teacher goes the extra mile for a student in need

This Valentine’s Day when one kindergarten student couldn’t be in class because of problems with his heart, his teacher showed the size of her own. Rita Allen teaches at Wellsville Elementary. Her student, Spencer Felt, received a heart transplant this December and has been out of the classroom for months. “I knew I had to do something,” Allen said. She frequently drove from Cache Valley to the hospital in Salt Lake City to take Felt projects and school work. She wanted him to feel involved in the class and to know he was loved. “He missed his friends so dearly, and he missed school and wanted to come to school,” she said. KSL News ran a story about Allen in January at a time when Allen was trying to get a grant. With that grant money, she was going to buy an iPad so that she and Felt’s classmates could video chat with him. After the story ran, Allen received phone calls with people she didn’t know offering money and iPads. Allen is now able to use the iPad and the school’s internet so that Felt can feel like he’s in the classroom. Allen wanted to show Felt his classmates missed him on Valentine’s Day. Thanks to the iPad, even though Felt was at home still recovering from his heart transplant, he could feel included in the party. During her lunch break, Allen drove to Felt’s home to drop off the valentines his friends had brought for him. “I really feel like I’m the lucky one in all of this,” she said. Allen was honored for her effort at a Cache County Board of Education meeting Thursday. – [email protected]

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