Ms. Leah Kaplan teaches special education at an elementary school in Spokane, Washington, and quickly formed a special bond with a student because of the limb difference they share.
When eight-year-old Raegan Justesen saw Ms. Kaplan in the hallway on the first day of school, she noticed her arm right away. She was so surprised to see another person with the same limb difference as her, let alone someone in her own school.
Before Ms. Kaplan even got the chance to see Raegan, Raegan took her arm out and waved at her with what she calls her “nubbin.”
“She literally was like, ‘(Gasp) Oh my gosh!’ and she’s like ‘Look!’” Kaplan said to Good Morning America, recalling the moment they first met in the hallway.
Raegan went home that night and told her grandmother and mother, who both also work at the same school, that she met a teacher there with one arm and couldn’t stop talking about her.
“Every time we see each other, we do the nub wave,” Kaplan wrote on Instagram. “I love seeing how proud she is of her arm.”
When she isn’t teaching, Kaplan competes as a paratriathlete and hopes to qualify for the 2024 paralympics in Paris.
Kaplan was inspired by a teacher who did triathlons on the weekends, and wanted to inspire Raegan to get into sports when she gets older.
“I want her to have a mentor because they said she has never been in a community with people with disabilities,” Kaplan told GMA.
Recently, Kaplan passed down an adaptive bicycle to Raegan, hoping it’ll help her enjoy sports and exercise. Raegan already took her new bike for a spin and loved it.
“Reagan, dream big! Don’t ever let equipment stop you from doing what you love,” Kaplan concluded.
Hear their inspiring story in the video below:
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