Eagle Hill students connect with local animal shelter

Fayetteville-Manlius School District middle school students recently treated the animals at Wanderers’ Rest Humane Association to homemade snuggly beds and yummy snacks, a project that allowed the students to hone their skills in the classroom while forging a stronger school-community connection.

Submitted Photo

Eighth grade students in Beth Robinson’s Family and Consumer Science class baking dog biscuits that were donated to Wanderer’s Rest Humane Association in Canastota.

Eagle Hill Middle School students in Beth Robinson’s eighth-grade family and consumer science (FACS) classes sewed pillow beds for cats and baked three different kinds of dog biscuits that they donated to the animal shelter. Each of the two classes visited the Canastota shelter during a December field trip to deliver the 10-dozen dog treats and approximate 30 cat beds, learn more about the shelter and to visit and connect with the animals.

The students’ visit to Wanderers’ Rest was the first time (FACS) students personally delivered their projects to the recipients.

“Students enjoyed feeding their home-baked treats to the dogs and watching the cats snuggle up on the warm fleece beds they made,” Robinson said.

Building community connections is a key element of the Eagle Hill family and consumer science classes, which are taught by Robinson and Robin Brenner. Students in their classes have completed a variety of service projects in past years, including making winter hats for homeless shelters, eyeglass cases for nursing home residents and quilts for children’s hospitals.

While at the animal shelter, students met with Program and Events Coordinator Joanne Cronan-Hamoy, who talked with them about animal overpopulation and why it is a huge but preventable problem across the country. She also talked about what the students could do to help support animal shelters. As a result, the students plan to have a school-wide collection in January to benefit Wanderers’ Rest, according to Robinson.

The project and visit provided students with information that they can use now and in the future, according to Becky Pulver, a parent who accompanied the class on the trip because her son was in one of the classes.

“I think without a doubt this was the most beneficial and educational field trip I have attended,” Pulver said. “It seems everyone can relate to animals, and educating the kids at their age now is critical and will help them remember as they become adults. Also, it gives them a great venue to volunteer in.”