The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
Prior to the pandemic, working with schools and individuals of all abilities, we found that animals had a unique way to open peoples' hearts and get them to engage in ways not thought possible. Interactions with our rescued animals helped reduce their stress & improve social engagement. With the onset of the pandemic, while these physical interactions were not possible, we used current technology to engage students that facilitated them taking a more active role in their learning. We created a collaborative age appropriate program, fitting within existing school curriculums, tailored to the needs of each teacher & their class. It’s a creative, innovative combination of applied learning and in-service projects which are then delivered in a manner that furthers their class objectives - set within a context of animal rescue and leveraging the human animal bond. The program is an interactive one that is delivered virtually and encourages team work, structured decision making, research, the potential leverage of technology, etc. We have projects either underway or in the planning stages in reading, math, english, french, special education, art, computer graphics, creative writing, statistics and analytics. Projects can reinforce oral & written communications skills, presentation skills, reading comprehension, creative & persuasive writing, research, applied technology, the use of analytics, improve the re-engagement & participation from at-risk youth, strengthen teamwork and improve social interactions. If appropriate, we can also reinforce messages with respect to equity, diversity & inclusion using the application in the animal rescue world.
We reinforce academic skills and academic participation by meeting students of all abilities, where they are, using rescued, homeless animals and transform their learning experiences by providing equitable access for the social, emotional and creative development of the students.