Winnie's Wheels

     A Book About the 

   Power of Inclusion

          By Lexi Humphrey

                Spring '21

Today was the first day back to school after winter break for Mrs. Miller's third-grade class. 

As students entered the classroom and began to settle in, they quickly noticed that a desk was missing a chair.

Soon after, Mrs. Miller heard the buzzing noise of speculation begin.

“Where’s Winnie?” asked Katie.

 “Are we just going to have an empty desk there for the rest of the year?” questioned Joey. 

“How could Mrs.Miller forget a chair on the first day back?” exclaimed Annie.

No quicker could Katie finish her sentence when Winnie came wheeling in.

The classroom suddenly became silent, and all eyes were glued on Winnie and her new wheelchair.

"Umm, I...I've been better," stammered Winnie feeling nervous.

"Hi Winnie, how are you doing?" asked Mrs. Miller

"Well Winnie, you can go ahead and go to your desk. I have one ready for you in the front row." said Mrs. Miller

Winne went off to her desk.

While at her desk, Winnie's peers remained quiet. No one, not even her best friend Katie, acknowledged her. Winnie began to feel rejected.

The bell rang, and the students were dismissed to go to recess.

While at recess, all the kids were playing, except for Winnie.

Winne looked around, and she saw Joey and Max playing basketball, Annie and Liv reading, and Katie playing in the sandbox.

Winnie thought to herself, "Why will no one play with me?" 

As recess went on, Winnie became very sad that no one would talk to her. She even began to cry. 

Katie quickly noticed that Winnie was upset, and she went right over to console her.

"Hey Winnie, what's the matter?" asked Katie

"No one will play with me," responded Winnie

"What can you play with?" asked Katie

"I can play with most things, just maybe not the jungle-gym" responded Winnie with a laugh

The two girls eagerly headed over to the basketball court to see what the other kids were doing.