Antelope Canyon Elementary third-grader Lucas Ellis has been dealing with leukemia since 2023, with treatments, hospitalizations and medications, but one of the hardest things about the experience for the happy and social kid has been missing school.

“He has always been a very social kid—he thrives in having those interactions with his friends,” his mom, Marcela Ellis said. “When he first was diagnosed, we did a lot of online classes, which were helpful, but we could see that his emotional well-being wasn't being taken care of as well as we wanted it to be.”

When Lucas’ illness relapsed in January, his teacher Megan Dotson stepped into action to create ways for Lucas to remain connected to her, his classmates and the classroom.

She made T-shirts with Lucas’ signature smile and blue glasses which all her students and those in Lucas’ two siblings’ classes, as well as staff members and parents wear each Friday (which Dotson calls Lucas Friday.)

Through a foundation called Monkey in My Chair, Dotson arranged for a lovable stuffed monkey to sit in Lucas’ seat when he is not able to come to class. Students tote the monkey with them to the library, lunch and PE class, and send Lucas pictures of his adventures to help him feel included.

“We love getting the pictures of George the Monkey playing in the parachutes, or going to recess or at lunch—he loves it,” Ellis said. “What he considers the fun, the ‘not school stuff,’ he doesn't get to be part of that, so getting the pictures of the monkey and the letters describing all those things—he loves it.”

Dotson said the monkey sitting in his chair has helped students not forget about Lucas.

“Putting him in our room, it honestly feels whole again,” she said.

Students also stay in communication with Lucas by sending notes to him through a class mailbox. Dotson said she always emphasizes kindness and inclusion in her classroom but the last few months have given her students opportunities to put those values into practice.

“I've watched the empathy in each of these little kids grow by a million and a half,” Dotson said. “They just talk about it all the time, how excited they are for Lucas Friday, or how they're going to grab an extra this or whatever at home to put in his mailbox, or things like that. And just watching them care for someone else has been really, really cool, and then come up with ideas of how we're going to, or what we're going to say, or what they'd like to do to show him love. I encourage that a lot in this room, but I have watched it grow tremendously in the last little bit.”

Dotson comes to Lucas’ home to work with him regularly. She also visits him when he is in the hospital. Lucas said all the support from his teacher and classmates feels “awesome.”

Ellis said the support has been incredible.

“It makes him feel like people are there, even if he can't see them and if he can't hang out with them, people are there for him,” she said. “It's made a huge impact on his well-being emotionally. We noticed that when he is in a good mood or in a good emotional state, he recovers from the chemo or the procedures a lot quicker than when he's sad or feeling a little bit depressed.”

She said it was such a relief when Dotson took the initiative to arrange the zoom calls and the plan for keeping Lucas up with his classwork.

“That was a huge burden that she lifted,” she said. “As a family, we were worrying about all these other things that we had to do—his medication, finding a donor—all of it—and to not have to worry about that was just incredible.”

At the end of February, Lucas received a school-wide superhero’s farewell as he left school to prepare for a bone marrow transplant, which will keep him out of school for at least a year.