California fourth grader cries tears of joy at news she's returning to the classroom

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Tears of joy: 9-year-old reacts to news she's going back to school

Clara Zanotto and mother Tarine join 'The Story' to share excitement over the return of in-person learning

A nine-year-old California girl whose emotional reaction to being told she was going back to in-person learning went viral joined "The Story" Monday to discuss the excitement that brought her to tears.

"I guess I was just so upset that I hadn't been to school in such a long time," Clara Zanotto, of Redondo Beach, told host Martha MacCallum. "And I guess I was just so happy ... I was just too excited today."

The video, taken by Clara's family, comes after California officials decided to soften coronavirus restrictions and allow many students back in the classroom after nearly a year of virtual learning. 

"At first, I didn't know what to do, so I waited a little bit and then I'm like, OK, let's just start jumping, let's bring happiness, she needs to be happy about it," Clara's mother Tarine chimed in. "But I think it was all the emotion from all the time that was held inside. And she let the tears come out in the burst of joy. That was it. That was a very emotional time.

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"She's happy. She's a happy soul," Tarine said of her daughter. "She's always talking about school when, of course, we are always eager to know, 'How is it? How do you like it? and How is your teacher?"

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Clara shared her excitement at being back in the classroom and away from the isolation that many students have experienced during the pandemic.

CLARA ZANOTTO: It was really exciting ... I walked in and they wrote my name down and then they took my temperature and I had to line up with all the other kids six feet away ... It was raining that day, so we didn't get to do recess. But ... on Friday, the next day that we went [to school], recess was really fun because we did hula hooping competitions, we did four square, where we ran around and it was just really fun to actually have a bunch of kids around me and not just be alone in my room.