For the last few years, seventh grade students have read The Hunger Games. Their 7th grade ELA teachers, Ms. Queen and Mrs. Justus, created the pet supply drive as an extension of the book. A main character, Prim has a cat named Buttercup. In the book, Prim is a healer and takes care of animals and people alike. To promote book themes of caring for those in need, giving back to the community, and working as a team, Buttercup's Bounty (the pet supply drive) was created.
Buttercup's Bounty is the first tribute challenge the students have while reading the book. Students bring in donations and each item is worth a certain amount of points. The two tributes with the most points wins the challenge. The class with the winning tribute for each teacher will get to enjoy an animal visit provided by Mountaineers for Mutts.
Ms. Queen, Mrs. Justus and the winning classes want to thank Cindy O’Malley who is with Mountaineers for Mutts and SnipWV for bringing the animals to visit the students. This year we had 3 dogs, 2 kittens, and 3 bunnies. Mountaineers for Mutts is a volunteer foster program what uses the pet supplies the students donated to easy the financial burden of fostering a pet. They also help familes who are struggling with keeping their pet due to finances by helping them with these resources. SnipWV provides free or reduced spaying and neutering along with other medical pet services. If interested in donating or fostering, you may find them on Facebook (www.m4mutts.org).
Click here to view a video of some pictures taken of the students visiting with the pets.