By pattrice jones | Coordinator, VINE Sanctuary
Greetings, and thank you again for supporting VINE on GlobalGiving!
By helping to feed the animals here at the sanctuary, you also contribute to our education and advocacy efforts, all of which are rooted in our relationships with our nonhuman community members.
One of the most important of these is Barnyard Buddies, a free virtual humane education program available to teachers everywhere. Classes that sign up for Barnyard Buddies "adopt" an animal at the sanctuary for a full school year, receiving monthly updates along with humane education lessons on topics such as empathy, communication, and respect for differences. Virtual "field trips" allow students to "meet" their buddy and their buddy's buddies here at the sanctuary. In between updates, additional resources, such as worksheets and fun activities, are available for teachers to incorporate into their own teaching.
Because Barnyard Buddies stretches over an entire school year, children learn so much more than they could during a single sanctuary visit. Usually, classes become deeply devoted to their buddy and come to care about other animals at the sanctuary as well.
Barnyard Buddies is the brainchild of our humane education coordinator, Anna, who also works shifts caring for animals and is training to be a veterinary technician. The program began as a series for preschool students at one school and has expanded each year.
This school year, we have more classrooms signed up than ever before! Twenty-five classes, ranging from preschool to 5th grade, will be participating. Hundreds of students will be tuning in to the happenings at the sanctuary every month, learning valuable lessons along the way!
It all starts with breakfast, every day. Without a sanctuary to virtually visit, a program like this couldn't exist. Thank you again for your contributions to this vital educational effort!
Sincerely,
pattrice
PS. It's not too late for classrooms to sign up for this year's program! If you know a teacher who might be interested, encourage them to contact us!
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