Students prepare for Operation Adoption Animal Fair
By Emma O’Connell
Special to The Star-Herald
Driving down the street, I glimpsed out my window — saw a dog that was defenseless and helpless, no home. The look in the pup’s eyes changed the look in mine. That very second I decided that for our Service Learning Project I wanted to enter the idea for a ‘pet carnival,’ to save those dogs and cats in shelters and everywhere.
PRESQUE ISLE MIDDLE SCHOOL seventh-graders in Elaine Hendrickson’s and Chelsea Cheney’s classes will hold a Pet Adoption Fair Saturday, May 12 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. in the former FYE store at the Aroostook Centre Mall and hope to have the community adopt as many of the Central Aroostook Humane Society animals as possible. 
The fair is part of a service-learning project the students have been involved with since December. They identified an abundance of cats and dogs available for adoption at the shelter as a problem and are working to fix it by organizing Saturday’s event, which will feature games, information, a raffle and more. Pictured with some of the posters they created to publicize the fair are, from left: Marielle Shaw, Izabelle Burtt and Calie Soucy.
I knew the idea was pretty far-fetched, and I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. Since the beginning of the year, our classes have been working on a Service Learning Project supported by a Community Betterment Grant from the KIDS Consortium.
Our classes proposed helping the Central Aroostook Humane Society. To determine the needs of the shelter, our classes visited there in small groups. Following this we determined the problem and began researching solutions to it. It was during this research that I came across the idea of a ‘pet carnival.’ However, after my suggestion got chosen, and we began working, I realized how much this effort could help that dog and other cats and dogs.
Mrs. Cheney and Mrs. Hendrickson have really supported our classes’ ideas as we have worked toward reducing the number of strays in the Central Aroostook area. We’ve been working ambitiously, and finally we’re getting prepared for the real thing! It took a lot of our teachers’ attention to keep the class on task when some pretty exciting ideas were thrown out there, although our fantastic teachers managed it all. It pleases me how much support we’ve received from Mrs. Hendrickson and Mrs. Cheney. I mean, the work has been fun (kind of…), but the actual outcome, knowing that our work will produce something worthwhile, is important. I feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that kids our age have the ability to change our community; it really puts a smile on my face.
So, community, will you help us too? We’ve named our pet carnival “Operation Adoption.” It will be held at the Aroostook Centre Mall on Saturday, May 12. The more people that come, the more animals are saved. There will be free ‘tattoos,’ stickers, face painting, cats from the shelter on display, homemade cat and dog treats, games, fun, a raffle and much more! Don’t be late! It’s opening in the old F.Y.E. store at 11 a.m. and closing at 3 p.m.
In the end, our main goal is to get animals spayed and neutered, and out of the shelter into loving homes in the community. Please come and support us! We’d really appreciate it! Thank you for all the support. All donations and proceeds go toward the shelter.
Editor’s Note: Emma O’Connell is in Grade 7 at Presque Isle Middle School. She is in Chelsea Cheney and Elaine Hendrickson’s classes. She has been very involved in Operation Adoption since its inception. She has also been chosen as one of six delegates from PIMS classes to present their Service Learning Project at the KIDS Summit at the University of Southern Maine, Gorham, on May 24.
