AFTER WANDERING INTO A THIRD GRADE CLASS, CAT DECIDES HE’S NEVER LEAVING.
It's unclear exactly where this adorable orange cat named Tombi came from, but there's little question that he's found his home. One day, in 2018, Tombi appeared on the grounds of a public elementary school in the city of Izmir, Turkey. Tombi was social and extroverted, approaching children outside to ask for attention and pets, unlike most stray cats, which can be shy.
Tombi didn't stop there, though.
Following a few weeks of spending all of his time in the school garden, Tombi reportedly decided to attempt formal education. The third grade looked like a reasonable starting point for a streetwise cat. "He came into our classroom," teacher Özlem Pınar Ivaşcu told The Dodo. "The children liked him very much."
And just like that, Tombi became part of Mrs. Ivaşcu's class.
Although it might seem like a complete distraction for young students to have a cat prowling around the classroom, Ivaşcu found that Tombi was really having the opposite impact. Her children were more eager to attend class after witnessing the cat's playful curiosity.
In between classes, Ivaşcu's students would run and horse around the classroom. However, having a cat to interact with improved their ability to stay focused. Thanks to Tombi, even the morning bell sounded more cheerful.
"The children come on time to school, and they are taking care of Tombi," Ivaşcu said. "This is good for them."
It benefited Tombi as well. In addition to having a secure area to sleep and spend his days, as well as bowls of food and water to call his own, the cat also had dozens of new pals watching out for him. Tombi was vaccinated by Ivaşcu, who also took him to the veterinarian to ensure his health. Ivaşcu's class has never been in better shape, but a problem threatened to end it.
One student's parents complained to school officials about a stray cat roaming freely in the classroom, claiming that it could be harmful to their health. Administrators subsequently informed İvaşcu that Tombi had to leave. Both the cat and the students were distraught.
"We found a home for Tombi and he stayed three days there, but he was not happy. He stopped eating," İvaşcu said. "So I took him in at my house, but also here he was not very happy." Tombi's friends at the school even wrote letters to try and cheer him up.
Seeing that the cat wasn't getting better, İvaşcu decided to write about his sad situation on social media. From there, word about Tombi spread like wildfire. "The story got a lot of attention and support on all TV news," İvaşcu said. "I had a lot of support from many people, including from my manager and the director of education in İzmir.” Even the parent who complained had a change of heart. She wanted the cat back in class, too.
As it turned out, Tombi was granted permission to return to class by school administrators. "The children were very happy to have Tombi back," İvaşcu said. "And he is happy again to be with the kids."
For the 33 students in İvaşcu's third-grade class that year, Tombi meant the world, but he eventually reached more people than just them. That year, İvaşcu authored and published a book on Tombi after being moved by the great impact the cat had on her group of young students. It has been years since Tombi walked into İvaşcu's classroom, but his story hardly ended there. According to reports, İvaşcu has now relocated overseas, saying goodbye to the school and her former pupils, but she didn't abandon everything. Joining her on that journey was the storybook cat, Tombi, eager to write their next chapter of life.