STAR, Idaho — Bryer Hansen is a 7th grader at Star Middle School. Earlier this spring, she had to take a couple weeks off school to undergo a medical procedure, and she was so missed.
"Her main diagnosis is Cerebral palsy, she also has a visual impairment, so she is legally blind," Bryer's mom, Krissi Hansen said. "She is just so happy, and she makes everyone around her happy. It's hard to be in a bad mood when Bryer is around. Really, her mission in life is to bring people together and it's been like that since she was little. People just come together because of her."
Bryer is from a big family, she's one of seven kids.
"I have two sisters and four brothers," Bryer said.
She's just like any other 12-year-old girl. She loves to read, and you'll often find her watching YouTube videos.
"I can read books, I can read anything," Bryer said. "I also love YouTube."
Bryer has many great friends at Star Middle School. She uses a power chair to get around, and sometimes it's hard for her to get to classes on time because she is so popular. She constantly gets stopped in the halls. She is new to the Star community, so making so many new friends has been really wonderful.
"I feel like when we moved to Star, it was just such a smooth transition, the kids really welcomed her at church and at school," her mom said. "The kids just rallied around here, like automatically."
"It just has trickled over to the teachers," Bryer's dad Jason Hansen said.
Bryer loves her teachers, too.
"Like my helper Jenny, she's a good one," Bryer said.
Her aide Jenny Hoots said she loves being by her side each day.
"I do everything with her, I'm experiencing 6th grade again for the second time as her helper," Hoots said. "So, I go to her classes, and help her with the cafeteria and bathroom, just anything she needs, I am here for her. You know, I don't feel like I'm at work, I'm just happy to be with her every day, she makes me laugh and tells me jokes. She's just the best."
Bryer had to miss school for a couple weeks this semester so she could undergo a medical procedure.
"She let us know she was going to be gone, and she said when I get back, I want you guys to clap for me," 7th grade teacher Monica Mattinson said. "So, we said, we got it, we will clap for you."
She stayed in touch with her classmates while she was out.
"They sent her jokes, and little gifts and cards," Mattinson said. "Every single day that she was gone they would ask, when is Bryer coming back, when is Bryer coming back? Then, one day Bryer was coming back, and we had a big plan for her."
Mattinson put a plan together to welcome her back. She had all the kids line up in the hall by the elevator to surprise Bryer.
"So, she gets off the elevator and her aid Jenny is right next to her, and there's this big group of kids clapping for her," Bryer's mom said. "They are trying to motion her down the hallway, but there is more to come, around the corner, all these kids clapping and cheering for her. Welcoming her back."
Bryer was so touched.
"It was awesome," she told KTVB's Maggie O'Mara. "Happy tears! Happy tears."
Bryer's mom and dad were blown away by it all.
"Oh, it's just so heartwarming, to know that's the environment I'm sending her to school in every day. Just really touching," her mom said.
"It's hard not to be emotional honestly," Bryer's dad, Jason said.
It also meant the world to Bryer's teachers and the staff at Star Middle School.
"It was so wonderful to see the kids embrace her so much! It was probably the best teaching day I have ever had, I will never forget it, I won't forget it," Mattinson said.
Bryer's aide said she'll remember that day forever, too.
"It was magical, it was magical," Hoots said.
Bryer has a message for her fellow students at Star Middle School.
"Thank you! Thanks for being my friends."
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