Photo by Jessica Vaughn

Photo by Jessica Vaughn

Photo by Jessica Vaughn

• 
• 
• 

FOLEY - The Foley High School FFA students taking Beth Taylor’s classes are learning in a pet-friendly environment. They take classes with dogs roaming from student to student and cats lounging atop the desks. Outside the classroom is a pen that houses animals from mini-stallions to chickens. A field lies across the parking lot where bulls graze and horses run. This is what it’s like to be in the FFA program in Foley High, taking classes including animal science, veterinarian science, poultry science, equine science, and aqua science. There are approximately 150 students in Taylor’s classes.

“I teach multiple classes in the animal program so students can stay on track to complete a pathway and stay on the animal track until they graduate,” Taylor said. “They can use that as a jumpstart to go to college for agriculture and veterinarian sciences.”

She says her goal is to expose the students to things that they might not have known existed, such as the importance of poultry science in Alabama. The poultry industry is the top agricultural industry in the state, bringing in $16 billion, and students who go through the poultry science class are on their way to a great job opportunity after graduation.

To prepare kids for jobs working with animals, Taylor welcomes dogs and cats into the classroom to get kids comfortable being around animals. She brings horses and bulls from home to give students the opportunity to care for the larger creatures, encouraging them to take part in interacting with the animals. She also encourages students to partake in a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE), or something they do outside of the classroom to gain experience in the world. This could include a job at a vet’s office or just mowing lawns.

One student involved in an SAE is junior Cameron Davis, who works at Dykes Veterinary Clinic after school and plans on going into veterinary work or becoming a military vet.

“This class has opened up a lot of opportunities for me, going to nationals last year was absolutely amazing,” she said. “It gave me the chance to talk to all these different colleges and consider some that I might not would have before. I even spoke with colleges up in New York I had never heard about before.”

Davis and her fellow students are currently working on training two of the classroom dogs, including training to herd cattle. She said being given the opportunity to work directly with the animals in class was something she never thought she would have, and it does more for her than just give her experience working with animals.

“This class is less stressful than other classes, it’s a good class to come to during the day,” she said. “It’s fun and relaxed while at the same time you’re still learning.”

While the cats live at the school, the dogs go home with Taylor at the end of each day. Other dogs who come to the class are brought by the faculty, as the students run a Doggie Daycare for teachers. Taylor says they accept dogs after the owners fill out a questionnaire and it’s determined that the dogs don’t suffer any issues that could cause a safety problem. Teachers are charged a weekly rate, and all proceeds go into the classroom while students are given the opportunity to train dogs and work with the owners.

“It’s extra money for the program and the kids learn how to handle situations in a professional manner,” Taylor said. “They learn how to interact with the owners and how to talk to customers while remaining positive and providing good customer service. It’s also good for the dogs as they get to socialize and be around other dogs and play.”

Taylor said the class benefits students who may not find themselves drawn to sports teams, band, or the art programs. They’re given the opportunity to join classes in the Career Tech Programs that are offered at the school, with four teachers behind the classes. What started small has grown tremendously over the past few years, and Taylor states she’s grateful to be part of the program.

“I want to give credit where credit is due, and that’s to Principal Russ Moore,” she said. “He had a vision for this program, he had a goal in mind, and he set out to build the program and add to it. He’s so supportive of what we do and enthusiastic, he sees the benefit of bringing animals to the students and giving them this experience.”

To learn more about Foley High School and the programs it has to offer, visit www.bcbe.org/foley.