ASHTON, WV (WOWK) — As children at Ashton Elementary school adjust to in-person learning, they have a big task before them: to break a world record by collecting 8,000 new stuffed animals.
Ashton Elementary school teachers Amber Riddle and Jessica Whittington say they wanted to give the students something fun to look forward to this year.
“They haven’t had a normal year,” said Whittington.
“For the last two years, they missed out on a lot of fun things so I think this is something to just encourage them to be involved outside of learning in the classroom,” she said.
The school has collected a little more than 100 stuffed animals in just two weeks, some were brought in by the kids and school teachers.
The stuffed animals aren’t just staying at Ashton Elementary School, they’re going to be shipped off to other countries and other states, to children in hospitals, and even to police officers who work with children.
Others will go into shoeboxes for Christmas gifts.
In the days of tablets and electronics, they say a stuffed animal still brings comfort to children.
“It’s like a hug in a toy,” said Whittington.
Whittington and Riddle say it’s also never too early to teach the kids to be helpful.
“This is one way that we hope it will encourage them to help other people,” said Reed.
The World Record holder is a school in the United Kingdom that collected more than 7,400 stuffed animals.
Ashton Elementary is accepting new stuffed animals of any size with the tag attached until November.
The stuffed animals can be dropped off or mailed to the school located at 997 Ashton Upland Rd, Ashton, WV, and reached at (304) 576-9931.
