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CWI professor creates coloring book to keep student's young son busy during class

This small act of kindness from a biology professor meant the world to one single mom and her three-year-old son and quickly went viral on Twitter.

NAMPA, Idaho — For working parents, college-level night classes offer convenience. At the College of Western Idaho in Nampa, more than two dozen students meet twice a week for Mr. Michas' biology class. For one of his students, convenience comes with a price.

Twentyone-year-old Olivia Tovar says she hopes to one day become a physician's assistant. Tovar is a single mom and works two jobs to support her three-year-old son Atticus.

In early February, she found herself with no one to watch Atticus during her biology class.

"I never really bothered to ask a professor before. but I was very desperate," Tovar said. "I didn't want to miss this lecture, so I reached out."

She didn't expect what Mr. Michas' response would be.

"He was more than willing to let my son come to class," Tovar said. "I thought that was awesome."

Not only was he willing to let a three-year-old sit in the hour and a half long lecture, Michas had a coloring book and crayons waiting for Atticus, something he put together himself in about 20 minutes.

"It wasn't just a generic thing for a kid," Michas said. "It was the exact same subject matter that Olivia was studying as well."

"So he made like the friendly skeleton and he made a very brief description of the human heart," Tovar said.

"To me, doing something nice for a kid is normal," Michas said.

After class, Tovar posted pictures of the coloring book on Twitter.

When she came to class two days later, she shared the news of her viral tweet.

"And she's like, 'Oh, by the way, Mr. Michas, did you know this has gone viral?' and I was like, 'What has gone viral?'" Michas said.

So far, the post has over 158,000 likes and has been shared over 27,000 times.

"One of the posts said it pushed her to want to go to school because it was doable," Tovar said. "I thought that was really awesome."

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