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| Creepy crawlers in the classroom |
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| News | |||
| Written by Brian McCauley | |||
| Wednesday, 17 December 2008 09:00 | |||
 There weren’t any lions or tigers or bears, but Beth Conner’s fifth-grade class pets did get a few “oh my” responses as they paraded down the halls of Hillsdale Elementary School on Friday. Conner’s students were making good on a promise they made to the rest of the school to bring the pets to any classrooms that could collect certain levels of canned goods for a food drive organized by Conner’s class. The incentive seemed to work, as student after student after student continued to bring in food items after the food drive began Dec. 8. The classes quickly leaped over their goals: 20 food items for a visit from Zimbob the African desert tortoise, 30 food items to get a glimpse of Hank and Frank the geckos, 40 food items to get up close and personal with some cockroaches, 50 food items to see a greenbottle blue tarantula and 60 food items to meet Diamond the corn snake. All of the classes earned visits from each animal. Conner’s mini zoo has been entertaining her students all year, and the creatures were more than happy to get a little extra attention the past couple weeks to benefit the Paola Association for Church Action food pantry. The classes brought in a total of 839 food items during the drive, with second grade topping the list with 169 food items. In doing so, the second-graders earned a game day, in which they’ll get to play with Conner’s students after Christmas break. Members of the Hillsdale PTO were scheduled to deliver the food to the PACA pantry on Monday. Conner said that Sister Rita Lavigne said the pantry was in need of peanut butter and jelly, pancake mix, syrup and fruit, all of which came in abundance during the drive, along with several food items for families in need this holiday season. Conner said the students were excited about the food drive and encouraged each class to try to bring the most. One of Conner’s students even cheered on the school using pom poms. On Friday, Conner and three of her students finished off the last of their required visits, bringing the tortoise, geckos, cockroaches and corn snake to visit Debi Hanf’s third-grade class. The group got a few interesting looks as Conner strolled down the school’s hallway with the snake draped around her and Zimbob zipped alongside her while resting comfortably on a rolling chair. A full spectrum of emotion swept over the third-graders once they got a chance to see the animals. Some of the students expressed excitement and curiosity, while others were more tentative around the snake and a bit disgusted by the cockroaches. Conner assured the students that the animals were safe, although she did get a few interesting looks while explaining how Diamond the snake chokes its food, usually mice, and then swallows them. “Whoa, it’s moving my chair!” a child exclaimed as Zimbob slowly burrowed underneath a desk, propping it up. After the students got a chance to pet the animals if they chose to do so, Conner’s mini zoo was back on its way to their home in the back of Conner’s classroom.
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