KANSAS COMPUTER STOLEN FROM SCHOOL http://www.cjonline.com/stories/102706/loc_eisenhower.shtml

It was so unfair.

The ball python, millipede, rose-haired tarantula, water dragon, fire-bellied toads and blue-tongued skink were gone. So was the garter snake, turtles and hamster.Computers and other electronic equipment had been damaged or stolen. Other items were destroyed when running water flooded the floor.

So when 13-year-old Josh Litscher showed up for classes earlier this month at Eisenhower Middle School, he felt the tension and saw the tears hanging in the eyes of his science teachers.

Worse things happen. Josh knows. His older sister, Charlene, was killed in a car accident last year when she was just 17.

But on that Monday morning, Josh made his way home and then to his mom's preschool classroom. And there he sat, tapping out a letter on her laptop, figuring he would ask some businesses for help.

Last night, Eisenhower Middle School was broken into.

He kept typing. Writing about everything they lost. Writing about how the thief stole the animals, plugged sinks and left water running, flooding one of the school buildings on Eisenhower's campus.

"It was kind of confusing," Josh said this week. "Once I got over the confusing part, I was pretty angry."

Before he was through, Josh called Chris Rogers. She teaches his eighth-grade science class -- his favorite class -- and he wanted to make sure he had a complete list of the stolen animals.

So Rogers went over everything that had been stolen -- each animal that she had received over the past four years. Four years of asking for animals instead of gifts at birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas. Four years of seeing the difference that a few critters crawling and slithering in cages and tanks around her room can make, from the way they brought students to her classroom to care for them after school to the way she got to know those students better when they came by to visit the animals.

"I noticed from the very beginning that some of the students here have a really tough experience, but once they get near the animals they are very protective of those animals," she said. "The animals make them smile. Some have really hard home lives, but these animals help bring out something in those students that you can see there is a beam of sunshine in there, and you can work with that."

It had been a long day when Josh called. Rogers had come to school at about 7 a.m. and waded to her classroom through ankle-deep water.

And she had shed tears with fellow teacher Sue Hicks, whose animals also were stolen. Both had printers they owned swiped, as well as an electronic projector that would connect to their computers and had been won through a grant late last year. In all, a police report estimated the loss at more than $13,500.

So, when Josh told his teacher he was writing a letter to ask people for help, "of course that made me start crying again," Rogers said. "He's always been sweet like that. He's a wonderful kid. He's got a tender heart. He feels hurt when we hurt."

Josh's letter turned out pretty good even though he doesn't care much for writing.

"That's one of my least favorite things about school," he said. "I like typing better than writing, but English, grammar, I don't like grammar."

Josh sent the letter to a few businesses. And his dad thought it was so good that he sent it to The Topeka Capital-Journal, which ran it on its editorial page. Josh got the word out to television and radio stations, too.

Pretty soon, people started calling Eisenhower Middle School, and the gifts started rolling in. In Rogers' classroom alone, there is now a boa constrictor, a ball python, two hamsters, a gerbil, a guinea pig, fire-bellied toads, a salamander and a frog that a student found at a lake. Used fish tanks that had been sitting unused in garages also made their way into her classroom.

And a team of employees at Wal-Mart that has the job of giving away goodies received Josh's letter in the mail and then read it in the newspaper, especially the part about needing help.

If you could donate anything that was taken, or help to restock our classrooms, the students and staff would really appreciate it.

Since electronic equipment, including a computer, had been stolen, Wal-Mart decided to give the school a computer it had on hand to donate.

"We were looking for a school, but that letter," said Rhonda Thompson, who is part of the S.W. Wanamaker store's community service committee.

On Thursday morning, among the full displays of shampoo and lotion, Wal-Mart made the donation to Eisenhower principal Steve Roberts.

Josh wasn't there. He had a chance to go to the zoo in Salina, and the young science buff took it. But Josh's mom, Betsey Litscher, was there.

This month, her son has seen something bad happen. And while no arrests have been made in connection with the thefts and vandalism, he has seen something good -- more help for his school than he expected.

Through it all, Betsey Litscher sees a bit of Josh's sister Charlene, whom she guesses would have responded similarly to Josh. And she sees some good in the world.

"It's nice to know that people out there still care and will help the kids out," she said.