JOHN PAUL II ASSEMBLY MARCH 2024
Saint John Paul II Catholic School is such a warm, inviting, and loving school. The students are smart, attentive and kind. It’s always a privilege to bring our Pet Responsibility Program to the 4th graders at SJP because we know they already take good care of their pets. We can count on these 4th graders to go out and spread our message of pet responsibility. Many of them will one day volunteer in animal shelters, advocate for pets of their own or a pet in need, some will even go on to choose a carrier with animals. These are the students who will grow up and make a difference in a pet’s life!
Pet Responsibility Committee members Sherri Grantham and Sarah Monzillo (with Certified Therapy Dog Charlie) taught Ms. Francis’ class of 24 students one session a week for six consecutive weeks. It went quickly but the hour-long classes were filled with information.
We ended our program with a celebratory assembly. The classroom was packed with students, teachers, our PRC mascot Speuter (Mary Smith), our photographer Angela Zumwalt, Mary Ann Root and guest speaker Dr. Erin Barney from Longleaf Animal Hospital, whose daughter was in the class. Except for a minor fire-drill in the middle of the guest speaker’s talk, the program could not have gone better!
Dr. Barney gave a beautiful presentation on the importance of taking care of pets/animals. She discussed the positive impact of spaying and neutering pets, proper health care and exercise. Dr. Barney enjoyed demonstrating a typical vet check- up. Charlie was an excellent “demo dog” even rolling onto her back to get tummy scratches. Dr. Barney brought an additional stethoscope so students could also hear the heartbeat and breathing and could calculate the beats and breaths per minute. Dr. Barney gave a great presentation!
We had three Speuter Story Contest winners: Daniv, Natalia and Sophia. No student had a pet in need of a spay or neuter, so they chose to donate a voucher to the teacher, Mrs. Francis for her 5-year-old dog Scout.
Star Artist Award winners were Emma, Danley, and Scarlett. ALL the clinic bags at SJP were outstanding! It was hard to choose. There is a lot of talent and passion at SJP!
We are grateful to SJP for allowing us to bring this amazing pet program to their 4th grade students each year. We have a lot of fun, but the message we teach is received loud and clear by the kids. Go SJP Animal Advocates!
