There has been widespread shock and outrage in a local US community and online, after a little boy was asked to re-do a school project featuring his stillborn brother.
When seven-year-old Nicholas Millsap was asked to create an assignment based around his ‘favourite things’, he knew exactly what he wanted to do – make a collage featuring images of his family.
However, once the collage was presented, Nicholas’ teacher took issue with the fact that his brother Noah, who was stillborn in March, featured in the picture.
Recalling the exchange to local media, Nicholas’ mother Cassandra said: “She told him that she was not going to allow him to have that picture there, that he had to re-do it.”
When Cassandra raised the issue in the school, the teacher was backed up by the principal, who claimed that the joint decision was made based on the fact that the photo was not ‘appropriate’.
“This decision was made in consideration of the best interests of all students in the class,” principal Cherie Kaiser wrote in a statement.
As you can imagine, the family – particularly Nicholas – has been left devastated by the turn of events; remembering Noah and honouring his memory is what has been getting them through this difficult time.
Needless to say, Cassandra – who is expecting for next March – has refused to let this incident go.
“I refuse to make him feel as if he cannot be proud of his brother,” she told a local reporter.
