- Hey everybody, I'm Connor.
That's Doug. And this is the Bethel
School District Presents podcast.
And who, doggy do we have a show for you today?
This week we're going over to Frederickson Elementary
to speak with a teacher
and some of our students who took on a unique project
where they helped a local animal rescue find Forever homes
for some amazing dogs and cats.
And speaking of dogs and cats, Doug, you
and I are both dog owners.
I have Cooper and Walter,
you have Pancake understand you got a pretty interesting
story about your pooch.
- I certainly do. And before we go any farther,
I don't think there's any argument over which of the dogs,
Cooper, Walter or Pancake is the best dog.
It's obviously Cooper obviously,
but Pancake does have her charms, pancake, the Wonder Dog.
Before we go any farther, I do wanna give a content warning.
I'm gonna talk about some dog things
that aren't particularly pleasant.
So if that triggers you in any way,
please skip forward About two or three minutes.
Pancake was found in Yakima on the side of the road.
Unfortunately she'd been hit by a car,
a guy in a pickup truck stopped, picked her up,
put her in the back and was gonna actually take her
to his property and give her a proper
burial, which was very nice.
He got back to his home, opened the bed of the pickup,
and pancake was awake.
Uh, she couldn't walk and he couldn't take in another dog.
So we put her on a local Facebook group
that my son's girlfriend happened to be a part of.
She saw the pictures of Pancake and read the story
and connected with him
and they took in pancake into their home, took her
to the vet and the vet quoted them about $16,000 in surgery
costs to get her back on her feet.
Literally they started to GoFundMe.
Didn't raise anywhere near that amount of money.
And so pancake convalesced in a crate
and ate food, got a little stronger
and about two months passed and I was doing dishes.
And then my son texted me about a one second video
and Pancake was walking like nothing had happened.
So I called him to see what was going on
and he said she just decided to get up
and she was all better.
So not really sure what happened inside
what knitted together to let her be able to walk,
but walk she did now that she was up and about.
My son and his girlfriend had two dogs.
They couldn't keep a third for forever, so they were looking
for a good home, preferably somewhere where they could visit
and that's how Pancake came to live with me.
- What an awesome story.
We love Pancake Special Special dog
and good thing you didn't blow that 16 grand on the surgery.
It sounds like it was not needed.
- I guess so. But she is not a cheap dog by any stretch.
When I took her to the vet for the first time
after I got her, they gave her an examination.
They're not really sure what stitched together either.
They said she'd have a little arthritis.
She also had a mouthful of rotten teeth.
I did schedule her dental appointment.
She now has two teeth left.
She eats like crazy and is doing really well
and she has one tooth up front that she's able
to hook onto toys with.
So she's still very playful and active.
Dogs ain't cheap, but they're worth it.
- Absolutely. And what a great animal
rescue story you got there Doug.
- And let's head over to F Fredrickson Elementary School
right now and hear more animal rescue stories.
- And joining us today are Frederickson Elementary,
third grade teacher, Jennifer Chappel, along
with her students, Madison, Johanna and McKenna.
And you guys have been up to something really cool lately.
Uh, Ms. Chappel, can you tell us about
what you've been doing and kind
of give us a backstory on it.
- So we started the year off writing was something fun so
that they could really get engaged in the writing process
as the year goes on,
they're gonna be writing multi-paragraph essays
and writing is not always fun for kids
and it can be difficult.
So if we start off with something fun where they get
to give back to the community
and they really get to get involved,
it definitely helps later on in the year when they have
to write for things that they might not
always enjoy writing about.
- So how did it come to be that you were able to connect
with this animal rescue
and have the students write persuasive essays
to help get these animals adopted?
- Well, I wanted to find something that we can all connect
to and everyone in my class loves animals.
And that was one thing that I knew we could all do together.
And um, I've actually volunteered at shelters before
and my daughter has volunteered at shelters
and so I just reached out to the shelter
and said, if I let my kids research on your website
and find an animal, can they write some persuasive essays
using evidence to kind of advertise?
And they, they loved it and they jumped on it
and they want to see more of it in the future too.
- So Johanna, what did you think when your teacher told you
that this is what you were gonna be doing,
that you were gonna be helping dogs and cats get adopted?
- Excited because I love animals.
- Do you have any animals yourself?
- A lot. - Okay. What do you have?
Cats, dogs. What do you have?
- A dog. I used to have a hamster and a bearded dragon.
- That's nice. A bearded dragon that's exotic.
So your assignment was to write a persuasive essay
to help get Reno adopted.
Do you wanna read what you wrote for us?
- Do you need a friend? I believe
that Reno would be a great buddy for you.
He is already house trained and neutral.
He knows how to use the bathroom outside.
You'll never need to clean up his mess.
He's an old scowl and he just needs to chill.
He is 11 years old. He'll be the best for calm people.
He won't shed much either because he's a short coat.
You'll have more time doing your thing except for vacuuming
for Reno as a buddy he had been waiting for.
- That's fantastic. And I'm sure anyone who reads
that's gonna want to adopt Reno right off the bat.
So Madison, when you were deciding which animal you were
gonna write about, how did you decide which animal
and how are you are gonna research them?
- We researched and read animal shelter websites,
um, and we did a rough draft.
- And in which animal did you end up writing your essay
- About?
I ended up writing my essay about Dexter. Do
- You want to try to read your essay for the audience?
- Is there a hole in your heart only a dog can fill?
I believe Dexter is a dog that can fill that hole.
He is a fluffy retriever mix, beautiful cream color.
If you want a fluffy dog to sit next to you
and cuddle, he is the one.
He's 1-year-old and house trained
and ready to be a part of your family.
Since he is one, you still have plenty of time to train him.
He's a medium sized dog ready to protect your home.
Dexter comes already neutered
and will make definitely your heart hole.
- I want to adopt Dexter myself.
So McKenna wrote about a cat,
gorgeous looking cat named Drew
and she's gonna read her essay right now.
- Do you need a friend? I believe
that Drew is the best friend you're missing.
She is already house trained.
She knows how to use a litter box.
You'll never have to clean up a nasty mess.
She is already spayed and ready to go home.
She's small so she can play with you for a long time.
She is two years old
and is not declawed yet,
which is something most people like.
Drew will quickly become your friend.
Take this companion home today.
- How could you possibly pass over
that cat after reading that?
So these are all such fantastic examples of riding
and they make, I'm sure they make everyone
wanna adopt these animals.
Have we heard if they, we've had any luck with this yet?
Have any of these animals been adopted?
- We have three dogs
and two cats that were shortly adopted right
after we posted the essays and visited the animal shelter.
Two of the cats, peppermint and squash were adopted.
And Reno Johanna's Animal was adopted
one day after she wrote the essay.
- That is so cool. So Johanna, what does
that make you feel like to know
that you probably played a little role in helping Reno
find his forever home.
- I'm really happy because he found his forever home
and I feel like dog just deserve like a lot of love.
- Absolutely. Thank you all so much.
This is such a fantastic thing you're doing
and I'm sure these animals, if they could talk,
would be thanking you as well.
Keep up the great work.
- What a great story.
I love when our teachers
and students get to connect with organizations in our
community that are helping others, whether they're humans,
whether they're animals.
It's just a feelgood story.
Connor, thank you for going and covering that for us.
Connor. We started the show off hearing about the trials
and tribulations of my dog pancake.
Your dog Cooper is no stranger to the vet either.
- No, he's not. My man. Coop is a bit of a mess.
There's the time he licked a frog
and couldn't stop drooling for 24 hours.
There was the time he got bit by a spider
and broke out in hives
and had to be taken to the emergency room at two
o'clock in the morning on Saturday.
Oh, and that's not even talking about his near
constant acid reflux,
that's got him licking his paws like a maniac.
But that said, he's the best dog ever.
I'll fight anyone who says anything different.
- Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that.
We'll see you next week everybody. Thanks for listening.