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Do you want a little more information about the Pets in the Classroom grant program as well as a teacher’s account of the classroom pet experience?  Take a look at the article, Pet Care Trust Brings Four-Legged Friends into Schools, published on Zootoo.com, an online community for pet-lovers.

The article articulates well the goals of the Pet Care Trust’s educational grant program and the details of the grant options while also telling the story of one teacher’s journey with classroom pets beginning with her time as a student through finding the grant information, obtaining her classroom fish, and implementing them in her classroom.

Please take a look at the full article at http://www.zootoo.com/petnews/pet-care-trust-aims-to-bring-four-legged-friends-into-classrooms-2030.

Pets in the Classroom wants to thank PetNaturals.com for recently publishing a blog post about our educational grant program on their blog! We greatly appreciate the support of the pet community in helping us spread the word about the program!

The blog post by petnaturals.com describes well what we do and why we do it. One excerpt from the blog states, “When children have pets or an opportunity to care for them, beautiful truths emerge. Pets enrich our everyday experiences—including learning.”

This is so true!  If you have not had the experience of having a pet in your classroom and seeing the children interact with them, we hope you will think about getting one!

To read the full blog post, Pets in the Classroom: A New Kind of Education, visit http://petnaturals.com/blog/pets-in-the-classroom-a-new-kind-of-education/.

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Pets in the Classroom is on Pinterest!  Do you follow our boards?  We have some fun, informative and educational boards set up specifically for teachers, so please take a look, follow our boards, and pin away!

Here are some of the boards we have created:

• Curriculum Ideas Using Classroom Pets
• Teacher Resources
• Classroom Pet Options 
• Interesting Ideas for the Classroom
• Benefits of Classroom Pets 
• Books for Classroom Pet Curriculum 
• Teacher’s Perspective on Classroom Pets 
• In the News

Please take a look!

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Having pets in the classroom is a smart move, and we’re not the only ones who think so! A recent article published on WorkingMother.com comes to the same conclusion we have…having pets in the classroom can help make learning fun, develop relationship skills, and improve behavior and performance. Please take a look at the article, “Pets in the Classroom—Smart Move,” for an expert’s opinion on classroom pet benefits as well as practical ideas on how to use pets in your curriculum.

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Happy New Year!  2013 is a new year with new opportunities, one being the opportunity to introduce a new classroom pet to your students!  And Pets in the Classroom is here to provide you with the educational resources (and funding!) to do so.

If you are thinking of introducing a pet to your students this year, here are a few Pets in the Classroom pages and past blog posts that may be useful to you:

• Introducing a Pet into your Classroom
• Curriculum Ideas from Pets in the Classroom 
• Classroom Pet Options
• Things to think about before choosing a classroom pet 

Of course, we highly recommend applying for a Pets in the Classroom Grant as well if you are going to purchase a new pet for your classroom.  The grant is available to pre-Kindergarten through 8^th grade teachers in public and private schools throughout the U.S. and Canada, and can help relieve you of some of the financial costs that are often associated with a classroom animal.

Happy 2013!

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Thank you to Christina Barron of the Washington Post for featuring Pets in the Classroom in her recent article, “The classroom is an animal habitat at D.C. school.” The article discusses the classroom environment of Perea Blackmon, a third- and fourth-grade teacher at Langdon Education Campus in Northeast Washington.  Blackmon’s classroom is home to a hamster, a rabbit, two iguanas, four leopard geckos and several dozen Madagascar hissing cockroaches.  The article highlights how the students have learned from the pets scientifically, and have also learned about caring for the animals. Please take a look!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/the-classroom-is-animal-habitat-at-dc-school/2012/11/12/fd410194-00f1-11e2-9367-4e1bafb958db_story.html

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The Pet Care Trust, the Non-Profit Organization funding the Pets in the Classroom Grant Program, announces the appointment of three new board members and the retirement of board member Steve Segner.

Bel Air, Maryland – The Pet Care Trust, a non-profit organization that promotes the public understanding of the joys and benefits of pets through education, support, and interaction, announces the appointment of three new members to its Board of Trustees: Mike Copeland, Summit Pet Product Distributors; Michael Lasky, Schiaffino, Lasky & Associates, Inc.; and Kemba Marshall, DVM, PetSmart.

The new members bring a wide range of knowledge and experience to the Pet Care Trust’s board:

Mike Copeland is the Senior Vice President at Summit Pet Product Distributors, one of the nation’s largest pet product distribution companies. After working 20 years in the fitness industry, Mike took the position of Sales Manager with Summit Pet Product Distributors.  He worked for 5 years in that position before becoming Senior Vice President and has held that position for the last five years.

Michael Lasky is partner in Schiaffino, Lasky & Associates, Inc., the Pet Industry National Sales Management Specialists. He has extensive domestic and international industry knowledge and expertise accumulated from over 29 years in the pet, lighting and packaging industries. Michael also serves as a board member of the World Pet Association, Inc.

Dr. Kemba Marshall, DVM is the Veterinarian and Pet Care Expert for PetSmart. She is board certified in avian medicine and also oversees care for the small pets Petsmart sells including hamsters, gerbils and guinea pigs.

“The staff and current board of the Pet Care Trust are happy to welcome the new board members and their extensive knowledge of the pet industry as well as their desire to promote the proper care of companion animals, educate consumers and elevate the standards of the pet industry,” stated Steve King, Pet Care Trust Executive Director.   “We are working hard to extend our reach and their experience in the industry will be invaluable in helping us reach our goals.”

The current board welcomes the new members while also saying goodbye to retiring board member Steve Segner of LA Pet Food.

“Steve Segner has helped transform the Pet Care Trust into a vital contributor to a better understanding of the importance of pets in our daily lives,” said King. “He played a significant part in establishing the Pet Care Trust’s Pets in the Classroom grant program and in helping it get to where it is today.  We appreciate the dedication and foresight he has brought to this program as well as the Trust’s other endeavors.”

The Pet Care Trust is a non-profit, charitable, public foundation that is instrumental in the sponsorship of programs supporting companion animal welfare and the benefits of owning companion pets as well as the development of educational programs demonstrating the importance of responsible companion animal ownership. The Pet Care Trust funds deserving programs through supporting grants awarded annually to non-profit organizations.  To learn more about the Trust, visit www.petsintheclassroom.org/about.

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Pets in the Classroom came across an article written by Concordia’s online staff that discusses the role that a classroom environment plays in learning.  The article sites research completed by Dr. Sheryl Reinisch, Director of Early Childhood Education Programs at Concordia University, that indicates high-quality classroom environments “help children feel safe, secure, and valued. As a result, self-esteem increases and students are motivated to engage in the learning process.”

How can a teacher create a comfortable classroom?  One of the three elements that was discussed was, of course, a classroom pet!  A classroom pet helps students feel more relaxed and safe, and therefore, helps them feel more empowered to learn!

To learn more, read the full article Do Welcoming Classrooms = Better Students?

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The Pet Care Trust’sPets in the Classroom program has reached a remarkable milestone—more than 19,000 classrooms have received a Pets in the Classroom grant, giving nearly 900,000 elementary and middle school students a chance to interact with a pet every day.

“The Trust Board set a long-term goal of reaching 1 million kids by providing 30,000 Pets in the Classroom grants,” noted Pet Care Trust executive director Steve King. “We have nearly reached this goal far sooner than any of us thought possible. It really is a remarkable achievement thanks to the Board’s foresight and the support of so many pet retailers and suppliers.”

The program began slowly, providing 3,200 grants for the 2010-11 school year. The 2011-12 school year saw the addition of Pets in the Classroom grants through Petsmart and Petco, along with rebate grants supported by independent pet stores. As a result, the number of grants increased to over 6,000 for the year.

In preparation for the 2012-13 school year, the Trust added additional programs by Pet Supermarket and Carolina Biological Supply. The response from teachers in the first two months of the new school year has been overwhelming. More than 9,500 grants have been issued since August 1, bringing the total to nearly 19,000 since the program’s inception.

The small animal category has seen the most grant requests, with 37% of all grants going to support a guinea pig, hamster, rabbit or other small mammal. Aquariums have been requested by nearly 30% of teachers, with reptiles (bearded dragons, corn snakes, leopard geckos, turtles) representing 28% of grant requests. Birds, hermit crabs and other animals represent less than 6% of all grants.

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Pets in the Classroom Grant Program Sets Goal of Reaching 5 Million Children

The Pet Care Trust’s Pets in the Classroom grant program has helped more than 15,000 classrooms, with many more classrooms yet to be impacted.

With more than 500,000 elementary and middle school students having already been given the opportunity to interact with pets on a daily basis in their classroom, the Pet Care Trust board has announced a new goal for its Pets in the Classroom Grant Program:  Within the next five years, Pets in the Classroom will introduce 5 million children in 100,000 classrooms to pets and the benefits they provide.

The new goal for this teacher grant program comes after the much quicker-than-anticipated growth of the program in the last couple of years:

“The Trust Board set a long-term goal of reaching 1 million kids by providing 30,000 Pets in the Classroom grants,” said Pet Care Trust executive director Steve King. “We have reached the half-way point to this goal far sooner than any of us thought possible. It really is a remarkable achievement thanks to the Board’s foresight and the support of so many pet retailers and suppliers.”

While the growth of the program began slowly, providing 3,200 grants in the 2010-2011 school year, the addition of Pets in the Classroom grants through Petsmart and Petco, along with rebate grants supported by independent pet stores, resulted in an increase to over 6,000 grants for the 2011-12 school year.  Also, in the beginning of 2012, the program expanded to include 7^th and 8^th grade classrooms, while in previous years the grants had only been available to pre-k – 6^th grade teachers.  This expansion to include middle school classrooms increased the number of students impacted by the grants, making the overall average of students impacted over 50 students per classroom. Then, in preparation for the 2012-13 school year, the Trust added additional programs through Pet Supermarket and Carolina Biological Supply. The response from teachers in the first two months of this new school year has been overwhelming. More than 6,800 grants have been issued since August 1, bringing the total to 15,500 grants since the program’s inception.

The Pets in the Classroom program benefits students by teaching them responsible, long-term pet care at an early age and providing the psychological and developmental benefits associated with the human-animal bond.  Studies have shown that caring for pets has a positive effect on children, improving school attendance and teaching children responsibility, as well as encouraging nurturing and building self esteem.  To learn more about the benefits of classroom pets as well as more about the Pets in the Classroom grant program, visit www.petsintheclassroom.org.