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A Teacher's Pet Project

Students learn alongside a menagerie of more than 100 domestic and exotic animals.

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By KENNETH KNIGHT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 9, 2009

TAMPA PALMS - A visit to Sharon Cutler's science class is like a trip to a petting zoo.

The walls of her classroom at Chiles Elementary School are lined with cages and aquariums filled with rodents, reptiles and other creepy, crawly creatures.

A thousand crickets bounce around a plastic garbage container, and mealworms twist and turn in a glass container nearby. Their fate hinges on the appetites of the larger animals.

"I think every day when you walk into her classroom, it's like going on a field trip," Principal Kim Pietsch said.

Pietsch has taken students to Cutler's class just so they could have the experience of seeing and experiencing nature up close.

"I took some third-graders to Ms. Cutler's class," Pietsch said. "It was great to see the fifth-graders teaching them."

"Ms. Cutler's class is the best," said Jack Delamater, an 11-year-old fifth-grader, as he approached the portable behind the school cafeteria on a sunny, crisp day last week.

Inside the small classroom, Cutler has assembled a menagerie of more than 100 domestic and exotic animals. Alongside birds, rabbits, turtles and tortoises are a collection of tarantulas, bearded dragons, plated lizards, tree fogs, geckos, tiger salamanders, scorpions and snakes.

Jack and his classmates sit at desks in the center of the room, a few feet from Kiwi, a parrot; Shelly, an African sulcata tortoise; and Reese and Coco Puff, two rabbits.

In addition to conducting science experiments and leading vocabulary lessons, Cutler allows her students 15 minutes of daily class time to do "pet jobs." They are tasks designed to give students hands-on experience tending to the needs of the classroom critters.

Maya Patel, 10, said it's a lesson worth learning.

"When we take care of them, we observe their actions and their habits," Maya said.

Cutler assigns fifth-graders most of the responsibility of caring for the animals. Fourth-graders also are given pet chores. While third-graders are exposed to the animals, much of their work involves learning about composting and recycling.

Cutler assigns students to work in teams of up to four classmates. They are responsible for feeding, cleaning and tending to the needs of the classroom critters for one month then they get a new assignment.

By fifth grade, most students don't mind handling the animals or cleaning up after them.

"We are used to it because we have been doing it since the third grade," said Einav Kirsch, 10.

Einav, Lynn Chen and Savannah Bunch, are in charge of taking care of the geckos this month, which includes changing out the water, cleaning the aquarium and scooping up a fresh supply of crickets for the geckos.

Students who don't want to work with the animals are not required to. They are allowed to participate in the school recycling program. Cutler assigns students to visit other classrooms to collect paper, cans and plastic to be recycled.

"I try to make what I do fun," Cutler said. "I like for [students] to want to come to class. I let them get dirty. Sometimes you have to get dirty when you are doing science."

Cutler is not big on rules. However, she does require students to follow certain guidelines to help to protect the environment.

They should only discard water on something green, preferably grass. They are encouraged to limit the use of paper towels in class. And, when they clean the cages, any bird seeds or beans from the animal feed trays are dumped on the ground for wild birds.

Cutler said she feels a responsibility help students better understand our fragile environment.

"My message is all about taking care of the Earth," Cutler said. "Somebody has to."

Cutler's passion for animals began when she was about 10 years old. She and her seven brothers started taking care of animals they found in a bayou near their home in Pensacola.

She carried that dedication for wildlife and nature to the classroom. In 2003, Cutler was honored as Science Teacher of the Year by the Florida Association of Science Teachers. Two years later she was named a winner of the Excellence in Teaching Award from Florida Agriculture in the Classroom Inc. and a finalist for Hillsborough County's Teacher of the Year.

She has accumulated numerous other accolades, including being named Teacher of the Year at Tampa Palms, Temple Terrace and Chiles elementaries. She has been involved in organizing science fairs and Earth Day and other school conservation events.

Fifth-grader Lynn Chen said she understands what's at stake when Cutler makes the class responsible for other living creatures.

"She wants to show that we can take care of them, and she trusts us," Lynn said.

Reporter Kenneth Knight can be reached at (813) 865-4842.

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