Student Life

The Paw Print April 2021 Student Life

Horse Shoe, Barbed Wire, Texas Star Images Courtesy of Pixabay

Horse the cow keeps an eye English teacher Michelle Adams class, while she steps out. -Photo by Allison Wheeler

The AG building caught fire and burnt to the ground on March 31 due to an electrical error. Luckily, all the animals were safely evacuated before the fire got out of hand. Due to the fire, the main building classrooms will have to share space so that the AG students can have a place to keep their animals while the new barn is being built. “At first, I thought it was a crazy idea to share my classroom with animals,” English teacher Michelle Adams said. “After several days of having cows moved into my classroom, I got kind of used to it. In fact, the cows are so laid back that they will let the students sit on them and do their work.”

It has been encouraging to see both teachers and students accepting and adapting to this challenge. Where there have been some difficulties in the transition, it is appreciated that everyone is trying their best. “It was not very easy at first sharing my classroom with goats,” Art teacher Danny Detino said, “because, I would leave for lunch and when I got back a lot of my students’ art work would be eaten. It was frustrating and it took a lot of yelling, but me and the goats have come to an agreement that if I bring them hay or grain every other day then they would stop eating my students’ work.”

Student works studiously as Pinky the goat watches her intently. -Photo by Kayla Childress

Students run lab tests alongside the Rabbit Peter. -Photo by Riordan Tiller

Everyone seems to be embracing this new adjustment pretty easily. Hopefully, the AG barn will be up and running as soon as possible. “Personally, I love having animals in my classes,” junior Taylor Tay said. “They are kind of like emotional support animals. If it was up to me I would keep them in here.”