Teacher aide Faith Traill makes a costume every year for Cassius Naera. Video / Courtney Naera
A Wairarapa mum’s video tribute to her son’s teacher aide has gone viral.
Courtney Naera shared a video to TikTok of the ingenious costume that teacher aide Faith Traill made for her son Cassius for book-character day at Lakeview School in Masterton and says she makes life at school possible for her little boy.
Ten-year-old Cassius (Rangitāne) was born with the brain disorder lissencephaly and Courtney and her husband Charlie were told that he was unlikely to make it past 2 years old.
The rare condition means Cassius uses a wheelchair, lives with seizures, is non-verbal and needs constant help.
But at 10, he’s thriving as a key member of the community at Lakeview School in Masterton and “phenomenal” teacher aide Faith Traill has been with him from the start.
“She always goes above and beyond,” mum-of-five Courtney Naera told the Herald, revealing how Traill had initially noticed how upset she became at finding ways to keep Cassius included and has stepped up every year since.
“I think she noticed how upset I get sometimes or I’d just be stuck with how to include Cassius or what to do for him and they kind of just said, look, we’ll do it,” she said of the teacher aide and her husband Matt.
“I can’t explain how grateful we are for them and what they do.”
For this year’s costume day, the Traills constructed a waka for Cassius and, he waka eke noa, and paddled it with him across the school.
The waka costume went viral. Photo / Courtney Naera
The clever design uses Cassius' wheels to move his paddles as Traill steers − and the waka charted a course to the top of the TikTok charts as people around the world reacted to her heartwarming efforts.
“Teachers like this make all the difference,” one said, as others called Traill a “true champion” and “beautiful human”.
Naera said the costumes were only a small part of what Faith Traill does for the family, revealing she also provides respite care by taking Cassius for sleepovers.
“They are just like the golden people,” she said of the Traills.
Teacher aide Faith Traill with Cassius. Photo / Courtney Naera
Naera shared some other costumes that the Traills had made for Cassius, including a tank and a train, which had been made to allow other children at Lakeview to join in.
Naera said that Lakeview is “just amazing” for Cassius and other children supported by the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS).
Cassius the train driver could take his mates for a ride with this costume. Photo / Courtney Naera
“I think the way that the kids are included in the school benefits all the students because none of those kids look at Cassius and see that he’s different,” Naera said.
“I mean, he’s one of the most popular kids at the school.”
Cassius with his whānau. Photo / Courtney Naera
She said the positive reaction to the video had “restored our faith in humanity”.
As for Faith herself, Courtney Naera said the humble teacher aide did not want any credit.
“She just said: ‘I hope that it inspires other teacher aides to think outside the square for the kids that they care for’.
“She just hopes that the video would do that.”
Chris Marriner is an Auckland-based journalist covering trending news and social media. He joined the Herald in 2003 and previously worked in the Herald’s visual team.
