I am constantly blown away by the kindness of young people in our community, especially during the holiday season. Local students care deeply about the homeless animals at the Aiken County Animal Shelter (ACAS) and are eager to learn all they can to help them.
South Aiken Baptist students bring toys at Christmas
South Aiken Baptist Christian invited Shelter Manager Bobby Arthurs and I to bring dogs to their school in early December and speak to students about pet responsibility. We were later surprised by one of their teachers and her grandchildren who visited our shelter with many items to donate.
Aiken Elementary makes cat toys and organizes donation drive
Paula Simmons is a fabulous volunteer at the shelter. A retired teacher from Aiken County Public Schools, she has been instrumental in helping form a Junior FOTAS Club at the school. In December, Paula and I took adoptable hound mix JD to visit the students and they made toys for the shelter felines and organized a holiday donation drive for FOTAS.
Horse Creek Academy collect goodies for homeless pets
Horse Creek Academy Kindergarten teacher Jennifer Kelley adopted a dog, Cooper, from the ACAS three years ago. Since then, she has organized a kindergarten supply drive for FOTAS. All the kindergarten teachers allow me to come into their classrooms, meet their students and talk to them about the shelter. The children spend time with one of our shelter dogs before forming a line and walking the supplies out to the FOTAS van.
North Augusta High School delivers astounding amount of donations Students at North Augusta High School also collected items for shelter pets during this holiday season. We were overwhelmed by the amount of donations we received! Thank you to Amanda Jones and her amazing students for all their support!
Tall Pines Junior FOTAS team reads to ACAS dogs
Our Tall Pines Junior FOTAS Club is always busy collecting donations, helping with events and educating our community about spay/neuter, heartworm prevention and pet responsibility. Last month, the students read to shelter dogs. The dogs, stressed in their kennels, relaxed at the sound of the students’ voices. In January, these same kids are helping us make videos and public service announcements about our programs.
Kennedy Middle School adds FOTAS to mini course schedule
We are looking forward to our third year of being a part of the mini courses at Kennedy Middle School. In March, we meet once a week with students, discussing key animal advocacy topics. Vet techs, animal control officers and adoption staff will speak to students about working with homeless animals in our community.
We are grateful for the schools and educators who support the shelter and allow us to speak to their students about our programs. If you are involved with a school in Aiken County and would like us to come and speak to students about pet responsibility, please call us at (803) 514-4313 or send an email to info@fotasaiken.org.
Educating our young people is the only way we will ever solve our pet overpopulation problem and reduce animal neglect. Their voices are powerful and can influence so many!
— By Kathy Jacobs, FOTAS Programs Coordinator
