Surprise visit from Down Under helps fourth-grade class

Diana Sahagun

Friday, June 12, 1998 | 11:23 a.m.

Some of the fourth graders at Mountain View Elementary School got a geography lesson on Australia Thursday from a native -- accent and all.

The purpose of Carla Reams classroom visit was to deliver a travel log that one of the students in Melissa Schell's class sent out in October as part of a geography lesson.

Each student sent a travel log to a relative along with a request for them to send a postcard back to the school and to pass the log onto another relative. Jesse Harrington's log traveled all the way to Australia and into the hands of Reams, his his distant cousin.

Reams, 24, said she had never met Jesse or his family, so she decided to surprise him by delivering the log in person.

"I was going to be driving past Las Vegas anyway, so I thought it would be great if I could come to the school as a surprise," she said.

Jesse, 10, said he was surprised and happy to meet his cousin from down under.

"It is so cool because she's teaching us about Australia, like how there are lots of animals and koala bears. I think we will keep in touch after she leaves," he said.

Tricia and Dave Harrington, Jesse's parents, said it was hard to keep the secret from him, but that it was a great experience to meet a previously unknown distant relative.

"I thought it was just so wonderful, we had never even talked, we never knew," his mother said. "This is going to give the kids a definite interest in Australia."

During her hour-long visit, the class asked Reams a variety of questions as she passed out koala bear key chains.

"Can you read?" asked one girl. "Are you excited for the Olympics?" asked another.

"This is so amazing, I never thought it would turn out like this," first-year teacher Schell said. "Lots of the children didn't realize the concept of thinking past Las Vegas, so now they are able to."

Reams, who was accompanied by her dog Obi, said she enjoyed being an ambassador for her native land.

"By coming here hopefully they will always think of Australia as a great place, which isn't that different from their own."