The Sunnyvale Sun
News
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Micah Guerrieri and Sarah check each other out as Alvin Lin and Sarah Kim look on.
A lively twist to summer camp
By ELIZABETH DUTKIEWICZ
At the end of school, parents search to find the perfect way to keep their kids busy during the summer months. Through July 21, the city of Sunnyvale and the Humane Society Silicon Valley have joined to offer a special program.
At Summer Express Camp, kids can spend their mornings enjoying arts and crafts, sports or other special-interest programs, such as the humane society's amazing animals class.
Since 2001, the society has taught classes daily to children ages 6 to 13 at Sunnyvale Middle School. Along with seeing the animals, kids explore the background, behavior and needs of their visitors. The amazing animals class, taught by the society's Jaime Allen and education programs assistant Regina Patzelt, is one of many programs developed by the organization's Education Department for students who care for animals and want to help them. Like many programs combining children's encounters with different animals with insight on values promoting concern and respect for all life, the program brings this experience to younger members of the community.
On July 3, two 2-month-old kittens from the society's shelter delighted campers. Timmy, a domestic medium hair, and Sarah, a domestic short hair, accompanied Allen and Patzelt's lesson. The children learned safe animal-handling techniques and how to recognize an animal's mood through its body language and vocalizations. Once the kittens were brought out, youngsters continued to learn by watching them play and petting them. For the children, this was the best part of the day.
Each camp day has a specific animal theme. On Wednesday, participants discussed the guinea pig's five senses, comparing them to those of cats, dogs and humans. Allen said, "The [society] encourages students to recognize our animal kinship, and to also understand that each animal expresses itself in a unique way."
By participating in the city of Sunnyvale's Summer Express Camp, the organization has been able to educate children, showing them how animals have helped people. They discuss why these relationships occurred. Campers learn, for example, that Egyptians domesticated cats because cats kept rats from depleting the granaries. After many years, cats were revered by the Egyptians as gods because they were such good hunters. Dogs, the children learned, were domesticated close to 12,000 years ago. The youngsters compare these relationships to the modern connections between humans and animals.
The Humane Society Silicon Valley stresses what domestic animals need to feel safe and how people can provide them. Allen said teaching kids how to care for animals is a great way to remind them how to be compassionate and show empathy toward each other.
Other Programs offered by the Humane Society Silicon Valley
Service Learning Program: Students take classes at the shelter and design a service project that will help the animals and those in their neighborhoods.
Educational Workshops: Held at the shelter for people who want to learn more about the shelter's history and take a tour of the campus.
Animal Pals Club: A monthly class for 10- to 15-year-olds that takes place at the shelter where children learn about and meet different animals such as raptors, amphibians, guide dogs for the blind and other therapy animals.
