An 8-year-old taking a student under her wing inspired Oxford Elementary School to start a mentor program.

Claire Tosh, a second-grader in Mary Beth Conway’s class, visited a first-grade class earlier in the school year and befriended a first-grader who seemed down.

“We said we can go play in Miss King’s office,” Claire said. “We can make popcorn and that was really cool and we taught her a dance, and it was fun. And we said we can play with a dollhouse in Miss King’s office and we played a lot and it was fun.”

That trip to cheer up a student kicked off Claire becoming a mentor.

“The first-grade girl loved meeting Claire and was completely cheered up after working with her,” said school counselor Amy King. “Claire has followed up and asked me how the student is doing. Claire asked if she could meet with her again. We decided to make Claire the other student’s mentor and set up a weekly meeting for the two of them in my office. She brightened the student’s day and made her feel so special.”

Claire’s group is called the “Fun Friday” crew. Their group visits King’s office to dance, eat and have fun. Her group even had a trip recently to the Scott Center where they did a dance show and enjoyed pizza.

Claire said her favorite parts of school are seeing all of the teachers and helping others.

“Everybody would help out a friend if they’re feeling bad,” she said. “They should just be like, ‘hey, would you do this with me?’ And they should just do that because it’s the right thing to do.”

When not cheering people up, Claire loves to draw in art class and is involved in dance after school. One day she’d like to be a teacher.

“Claire has a true gift for helping others and making OE a better place to come to school,” King said.