DALLAS — When she started at Ascher Silberstein Elementary in Dallas three years ago, principal Erika Pasieczny saw a big problem.
Stray dogs, many who belong to the students, were everywhere and that bothered her.
“Yes, cause I don’t want them to get hurt,” Pasieczny said.
To solve the problem, Pasieczny says getting her students to care about their own pets meant getting a bird and a hamster.
“Before we knew, it we had a whole room full of critters that the kids could learn how to care for,” she said.
Literally called the ‘critter room,’ Pasieczny has created a place for students to learn all about nature. In addition to the bird and hamster, the school is now home to rats, rabbits and at least three snakes.
“Wow,” exclaimed fifth grader Vanessa Ruiz. “I’ve never seen a snake before.”
“The stuff they get to see and read about in books, they now get to touch and feel,” Pasieczny said.
“If you were to look into my brain there, would be a vault of information about all these animals,” fifth grader Aileen Salas said.
Critters that once terrified them are now rock stars.
Larry the bearded lizard now gets a raucous ovation for eating roaches.
“You come and see a lot of animals and touch them, carry them, and take care of them,” said fifth grader Allison Vergara.
It’s been such a hit, Pasieczny recently hatched a bigger idea. Using money from a grant, the school added a chicken coop and built a kennel, so those stray dogs now have a place to stay safe until they can go home.
However, teachers say being with the animals has done far more than just teach.
“A lot of my students came from difficult situations at home and they come to school very stressed out or angry,” said kindergarten teacher Jessica Araiza. “Sometimes they’ll get here just crying and this will calm them down.”
The kids have, no doubt, bonded with these animals. As a result, they’ve given their principal exactly what she was after.
“So now I feel like they look at nature and they’re looking at animals in a way, ‘how can I take better care of this creature,’ whether it’s their pet or it’s just something that’s out in nature,” Pasieczny said.
“It helps all the neighborhood because we know how to take care of them,” said fifth grader Esdras Diaz.
“I want to be a vet one day so this is helping me,” Salas said. “I can just go back into the vault of memories and think, ‘How do I take care of this?’ And then I’ll remember, ‘Oh, this is how I take care of it.’ And voila! And just do it.”
Pasieczny wanted to teach a lesson and in doing so, inspired a generation.