During the last week of summer school, Cassville students had a Community give back day.
On Tuesday, June 21, students visited the Haven of the Ozarks Animal Sanctuary to spend time with the animals, walking them, reading to them and giving them treats. The Cassville students also brought a surprise for the dogs — hand made toys.
Throughout summer school, students made rope toys out of old T-shirts to donate to the Haven.
Pricilla Craig, Cassville Kinder Academy through fifthgrade art teacher, said the school administrators had the idea for a day where students would give back to the community by going to the Haven, so she took to Pinterest to find easy and inexpensive ideas for dog toys.
“You can make a lot with old T-shirts and I can easily get those,” Craig said. “Some shirts were donated, and I went to Second Act and grabbed a bag.
“The T-shirts got cut up into strips, then braided and knotted together to make a tug-of-war toy.”
The students made another type of toy with a whiffle ball in the center.
“I tried to come up with ideas for toys that would just get shredded,” Craig said. “I sat the kids down and talked to them about the Haven of the Ozarks, and what they do. I told them it is a no-kill shelter and pets need to be adopted so the next time their family needs a new family pet, they should go to the Haven.”
Craig said it is eye-opening for the students to be a part of something so great in the community.
“As the kids work on these projects, they are realizing that art can affect others lives,” she said. “Their faces lit up knowing they were going to help the animals.
“They are doing something good, and today’s kids don’t get that opportunity very often. They were very excited to make the toys.”
The students made about 400 toys to take to the Haven.
“We did that so they have some of the toys left over for future dogs the have come in,” Craig said. “I don’t think we will stop doing this. The lady at Second Act said she would continue to save shirts for me, and I would love to do this project throughout the school year. It would be a great thing to do around Christmas time, or after MAP testing.”
