Teachers' Pets
Cats, geckos, ferrets and snakes are helping students at Moniteau and Karns City high schools learn year round.
“It's different than just having a textbook with the picture,” said Kurt Crosbie. “When you have an actual animal in front of the class, it brings the lesson to life — literally.”
Crosbie teaches seventh- grade general science at Karns City High School and has had many different classroom pets.
“We change yearly,” said Crosbie. “We've had iguanas. We've had ferrets; they were entertaining because they're really good at getting loose; piranhas, tarantulas, rats and mice and hissing cockroaches.”
Right now, his classroom is home to Tony the red- tail boa, Emma the ball python and Fred the crested gecko.
Crosbie was first inspired to have animals in the classroom by a fellow teacher. He saw how they could be used to instruct, as well as help with behavioral problems.
“They pay more attention when you have an animal in your hand,” Crosbie said.
Moniteau High School biology and ecology teacher Adele Crescini also uses animals as a reward system.
“I don't have a lot of disciplinary problems in my room because the kids know if they act up, they don't get to have the animals out,” Crescini said.
She has about 26 animals living in her classroom, including Stevie and Fabio the ferrets, Raven the black bengal cat, Tank the panther chameleon, Mocha the skunk and Duncan the umbrella cockatoo.
“It started off small with bearded dragons or a snake here and there. Then I started to have some students who really enjoyed it and appreciated it and I said, 'I don't mind if we have more animals, but I'll need help cleaning them,'” Crescini said.
Crescini's club, Creepers and Crawlers, takes care of the animals in her classroom, as well as taking the animals to visit other schools for educational purposes.“I really enjoy going places and teaching people how to correctly handle them and properly take care of them,” said Danielle Hankey, president of Creepers and Crawlers.Both Crescini and Crosbie grew up with animals.“I've always been an animal lover,” Crosbie said. “I grew up on the farm and it was just a natural fit for me to have them in the classroom.”Crescini got into reptiles and amphibians in high school.“I started off wanting to go to school for pre-vet and specialize in herpetology, and I decided that wasn't the road for me,” Crescini said. “I wanted to be a teacher because some of the people who influenced me most in my life were teachers.”In her room, Crescini also has bearded dragon lizards, red-eyed frogs, a western hognose snake, a blue tongue skink and a sulcata tortoise.“Most of them are animals you don't really get to see every day,” said Justine Keene, a member of Creepers and Crawlers.As science teachers, Crescini and Crosbie said many students learn best working hands on and looking at the animals.“They're excited and I think they learn more about the subject than just reading out of a book,” Crosbie said.
Moniteau student and Creepers and Crawlers treasurer, Megan Confer, said holding the animals helped her learn.“You can see stuff and look at stuff on the computer, but it's not the same,” Megan said.While Crosbie has had ferrets, hamsters and other mammals in the past, he decided it's much easier to have reptiles and amphibians.“When you have a mammal like a rat, mouse or ferret, their odors are strong,” Crosbie said. “Reptiles usually don't have those odors, so I found they are a happy medium. They are diverse enough and unique enough.”Crescini solved the odor problem by having Creepers and Crawlers club members clean the cages and change litter boxes throughout the day.“I like having the opportunity to work with these animals, because who gets to do this in their daily lives?” said Autumn Cranmer, Creepers and Crawlers treasurer.Over long weekends and holiday breaks “students will fill out an application if there is a particular animal they want to take home,” Crescini said.Crosbie also sends his classroom pets home with students over long breaks.“I had a young lady who took the big snake home and they had it in the swimming pool, which I don't know if that was the best thing for it, but apparently it didn't do it any harm,” Crosbie said.Crescini said one of the best things about classroom pets is their therapeutic value for students having a bad day.“Students will pick one up and they will take them to their seats and it kind of calms them,” Crescini said.
Crosbie said snakes have a bad reputation for being evil.Dalton Beham, a seventh-grader at Karns City, used to scream when the snakes were out of their cages.“I just don't like when it gets near,” Dalton said. “I'm afraid it's going to bite me.”However, thanks to Crosbie's lesson, Dalton has learned to respect the snakes and will occasionally hold them.“Snakes are a benefit helping control our environment,” Crosbie said. “They can help control the population of nuisance animals out there, like rats and mice.”Both Crosbie and Crescini ask students about allergies and never force them to hold animals if they are reluctant.They teach mutual respect for all living creatures and how each has a place in ecosystem.Crescini said, “The kids are very, very respectful, and they really enjoy the animals.”
