Whether they are budding journalists, aspiring veterinarians or future animal welfare professionals, we find that students often wish to make companion animals the focus of a school assignment. Staff members at the Richmond SPCA are contacted by students in elementary school, by doctoral candidates and at every level of education in between. We strive to nurture students’ interest in animal welfare and accommodate as many of these requests each semester as possible.
Many of the students who select topics relating to the Richmond SPCA have first encountered our organization’s work through either a field trip to our Robins-Starr Humane Center or a presentation given by our staff in their classrooms. In the last 12 months, our Humane Education department has given 147 tours and classroom visits. Others have participated in a program or event and want to dig deeper when an assignment gives the opportunity.
Such was the case for Emily Kinsey. She first became involved with the Richmond SPCA as the captain of the “Princesses for Pets” team at our annual Dog Jog and 5K Run in 2008. Emily has participated in numerous pageants, always with animal welfare as her platform. She is now 11 years old and completing the 5th grade at Springfield Park Elementary in Glen Allen, Va. Earlier this year, Emily’s teacher, Mrs. Nowicki, assigned her students the task of selecting a community leader they admired. Emily chose to interview Richmond SPCA Chief Executive Officer Robin Robertson Starr. Emily’s thoughtful questions and Robin’s answers are insightful, and we hope you’ll enjoy watching Emily’s resulting video. We hear she got an A!
Although the school year is coming to a close, opportunities for students to learn compassion for all creatures, get a preview of animal-related careers and put reward-based training theories into practice abound as part of our full slate of summer programming at the Robins-Starr Humane Center. Our weeklong day camp programs are incredibly popular and there are only a few spots remaining. Learn more and register your child at www.richmondspca.org/camp.
Tabitha Frizzell Hanes is the director of advancement for the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.
Comments