March 2002                                                    

Very soon we will be participating in a project called The Teddy Bear Exchange. You can read more about this project at the Official Teddy Bear Project site. I found a Second Grade class in Belleville, Illinois that is willing to become our partners for the project. This is how it works:

Each class chooses a teddy bear as their mascot and then the bears are exchanged. The bears will be the "guests of honor" and they will participate in everything that the children do at school. The bears will have an opportunity to experience life in a different school and state, and then they will write to their partners, explaining what they learned and experienced during that week. The bears will also have an opportunity to visit the children's home and experience the real world ! We encourage the children to keep their rooms clean and organized, because they never know when tit will be their turn to have the bear at their  house !

Our partner for the project is a Second Grade class in Belleville Illinois. There are twenty children in the class and their teacher's name is Mrs. Swain. Their mascot's name is Mr. Fuzzums. They are already making a little shirt for Mr. Fuzzums, and he will be sent to us pretty soon. In the following days, we too will choose our mascot and decide on a name.

I think this will be a wonderful project that will help our children understand and connect to children from another state !

Map of Illinois. Can you find Belleville ?