Moniteau twins to go into animal-related fields after high school experience
CHERRY TWP — Twin sisters graduating from Moniteau High School have tended and cared for animals from dogs to tortoise, and their careers in caring for creatures are only just beginning.
Aurora Campbell and Emma Campbell are co-presidents of Moniteau’s Creepers and Crawlers Club, a school-sanctioned group where students raise animals like snakes, frogs, birds, tarantulas, lizards and the aforementioned dogs and tortoise.
They have been in the club since their freshman year at Moniteau High School, and have gone from completely new to these animals to being so comfortable handling them that they walk around the classroom with a snake wrapped around their arm.
The Campbell sisters said at the annual Creepers and Crawlers fundraiser April 18 that they each plan to go into a career field relating to animals post-high school. Aurora said she plans to become a vet tech, and Emma said she plans to go to Butler County Community College to study biological science.
Aside from learning about how to take care of various animals from the club’s faculty adviser, Adele Palagallo, Aurora and Emma Campbell said they also learned and gained some confidence from being part of Creepers & Crawlers. As co-presidents, they organized the club’s annual fundraiser in April, in which more than a dozen groups came to Moniteau to show off their animals and other activities to raise money for Creepers and Crawlers.
Aurora commented that these initiatives help build skills in multiple areas.
“It gets a lot of people out of their shell,” Aurora said. “It’s OK to be uncomfy, it’s not as hard to talk to people as you think. Being president, you help the younger kids get used to it.”
The club has about $10,000 to work with per semester, which is burned through pretty quickly because of the amount of food and supplies the students need to keep the animals fed and comfortable. The fundraiser helps raise money for the club, and it also promotes connectivity between the school and other organizations that work with animals and on animal welfare. Some of the other agencies present at the April 18 event included Animal Friends and Heart and Soul Parrot Rescue.
“We emailed everyone, got vendors to come,” Emma said. “Money goes toward food, getting bigger enclosures, supplies.”
