New Pets Help Teachers Through a Ruff Year
The addition of multiple new pets on campus brightens the faces of students and teachers across campus.
By Jisela Negrete
The addition of multiple new pets on campus brightens the faces of students and teachers across campus.
By Jisela Negrete
The lockdown measures from COVID-19 have isolated a lot of people, separating them from their usual social interactions, and left many people feeling alone. As a result, a lot of people turned to animals for emotional support during times of loneliness.
During the lockdown, pet adoptions skyrocketed as people searched for new social interactions. According to the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, one in five households got a pet during the pandemic.
Activities Director Michelle Mayhew adopted her Australian Shepherd puppy Moose on Labor Day this year. Moose occasionally accompanies Mayhew on campus, and she noticed that his presence on campus helped improve people’s moods.
“He just gives that unconditional love and when you’re feeling down or feeling upset with something or just having a hard day, the dog just gets excited to see you and is so excited and happy that it just changes your mood and it changes the situation,” said Mayhew.
Moose visited campus for the first time at the beginning of the school year, and students fell in love with him from day one. Students, such as Layla Shukla-Degen, 9, believe that Moose’s lighthearted attitude not only radiates joy and happiness on campus but can also serve as a motivator.
“Seeing Moose definitely brightens my day which puts me in a good mood and that can help motivate me,” said Shukla-Degen.
Nathan Flores, 11, also noticed that Moose improves the mood anywhere he goes and can bring joy to an entire classroom.
“I feel like Moose not only makes my day better, but also improves the day of everyone else in the class, as he cheers them up easily,” said Flores.
3D art teacher Annie Tobin adopted her first two dogs, Mac and Merle, as rescues from ASPCA.
̈I went through some personal trying times about seven years ago and that’s when I got Mac and then I got Luna after that,” said Tobin.
Tobin described how much positivity her new pets introduced into her life and how her pets helped her overcome challenges.
“I just found that they change my perspective of the world in huge ways,”said Tobin. “I became a happier person with them. And I got through that difficult time, but I owe a lot of it, the positive parts of it, to my animals loving me and me loving them and having something that was more important than me.”
Pets have helped bridge the gap between staff and students that was left by lockdown and have allowed the Pioneer community to come together as a more tight knit community.
“I’ll take him in class periods outside and students I wouldn’t normally talk to on a normal basis come up to me and we have a conversation about dogs. So I have interactions with students I normally wouldn’t have interactions with and I feel like that stems from him being there,” said Mayhew.
During the lockdown, pet adoptions skyrocketed as people searched for new social interactions. According to the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, one in five households got a pet during the pandemic.
Activities Director Michelle Mayhew adopted her Australian Shepherd puppy Moose on Labor Day this year. Moose occasionally accompanies Mayhew on campus, and she noticed that his presence on campus helped improve people’s moods.
“He just gives that unconditional love and when you’re feeling down or feeling upset with something or just having a hard day, the dog just gets excited to see you and is so excited and happy that it just changes your mood and it changes the situation,” said Mayhew.
Moose visited campus for the first time at the beginning of the school year, and students fell in love with him from day one. Students, such as Layla Shukla-Degen, 9, believe that Moose’s lighthearted attitude not only radiates joy and happiness on campus but can also serve as a motivator.
“Seeing Moose definitely brightens my day which puts me in a good mood and that can help motivate me,” said Shukla-Degen.
Nathan Flores, 11, also noticed that Moose improves the mood anywhere he goes and can bring joy to an entire classroom.
“I feel like Moose not only makes my day better, but also improves the day of everyone else in the class, as he cheers them up easily,” said Flores.
3D art teacher Annie Tobin adopted her first two dogs, Mac and Merle, as rescues from ASPCA.
̈I went through some personal trying times about seven years ago and that’s when I got Mac and then I got Luna after that,” said Tobin.
Tobin described how much positivity her new pets introduced into her life and how her pets helped her overcome challenges.
“I just found that they change my perspective of the world in huge ways,”said Tobin. “I became a happier person with them. And I got through that difficult time, but I owe a lot of it, the positive parts of it, to my animals loving me and me loving them and having something that was more important than me.”
Pets have helped bridge the gap between staff and students that was left by lockdown and have allowed the Pioneer community to come together as a more tight knit community.
“I’ll take him in class periods outside and students I wouldn’t normally talk to on a normal basis come up to me and we have a conversation about dogs. So I have interactions with students I normally wouldn’t have interactions with and I feel like that stems from him being there,” said Mayhew.