Who stole magic wand?

An ogre or two tried to take away the charm of Kinder-Magic over the weekend.

A thief or thieves looking for something to steal broke into the private preschool and kindergarten near downtown Coeur d’Alene and rummaged through rooms crowded with happy memories and colorful things.

They passed by glass bowls where quiet bubbling fish swam. But they did not steal the fish.

They passed a big wooden cage where cheerful chirping birds fluttered and sang. But they did not steal the birds.

They passed a box where sleepy gentle gerbils cozied up in wood shavings. But they did not steal the gerbils.

They passed an old bathtub full of cushions and books where children curl up to read. But they did not steal any cushions or books or children.

But something did get stolen. The thief or thieves huffed and puffed and grunted and groaned and staggered away with a heavy 5-gallon glass jar stuffed halfway full with about $500 worth of quarters and pennies and dimes that students at the school – kids who are just learning how to read – took out of their own piggy banks and were going to give to the Coeur d’Alene Library.

But the worst thing of all?

The thief or thieves stole many, many happy memories because teacher’s magic wand is missing.

“Mrs. P’s wand got took. Write that down,” commanded 5-year-old Dova Liss, one of the angry kindergarten students at Kinder-Magic near downtown Coeur d’Alene.

“Well … well… Mrs. P’s wand got lost and somebody took it,” stammered a breathless Luka Bennett, 5. “It’s gone now and she’s really sad.”

Dova, Luka and their classmates gathered around a long sheet of paper Monday morning, busily brushing out a message in paint asking that the wand be returned.

“I feel like part of the school is missing. I feel like part of me is missing,” Pam Pereira, known to kindergartners as Mrs. P, said Monday. She has had the wand for 20 years.

Pereira opened Kinder-Magic five years ago after teaching in both private and public schools. The name reflects her belief that something magic happens when children open their eyes, their brains, their hearts and begin making sense of the world. Her belief in the magic of learning goes all the way back to her student-teaching days prompting her mentor, Julie Strahl, to give her the gilt and crystal wand as a present.

Mrs. P took the wand to school and used it almost every day. Countless birthday wishes have become official with a wave of the magic wand. Rain and clouds would run out of the skies when the class would wish for good weather on a field trip.

Some kids wish for the return of missing pets, Mrs. P said. One girl used the wand to say “I wish for a baby brother” and, amazingly, a mom who couldn’t have more kids gave birth to a baby boy a year or so later, Mrs. P said.

The 5- and 6-year-olds at Kinder-Magic take the wand seriously.

“It’s all part of the magical ceremony. We close our eyes and picture what we are wishing for. We picture it, and then. …” With a hissing, schuss-ing noise, Mrs. P demonstrates how a wish is released into the air. “There is so much joy and magic here. The kids love it.”

On Monday, the kids and Mrs. P wished and wished the magic wand would be returned. But how can you make such a wish come true when the magic wand – and all the happy memories it has created – is gone?

“I believe if you wish hard enough, things can come true,” Mrs. P said.

That’s why the kids made a sign with paint, asking for the wand to come back, and hung it up outside the school.

“We are hoping whoever stole our wand will see it, so we want to do our best painting,” Mrs. P told the children intently wielding paint brushes. Quietly, she added, “If they have half a heart … or if somebody at a pawn shop sees it.”

The fish swam quietly. The birds chirped cheerily. The gerbil dozed.

Everybody waited for a good thing to happen.