We are the Community Problem Solvers of Heritage Middle School in Colleyville, Texas, a 6th and 7th grade group which is devoted to stop animal surrendering, to hopefully stop animal euthanasia in shelters in our community. Our project, Promoting Animal Welfare (Project P.A.W.) will be submitted for competition for the Texas Future Problem Solvers Program.
In September, we met with “Tugg” the Bull Terrier and his owners. Hearing his story inspired us and helped us confirm our topic, animal surrendering and euthanasia. We were included in a video by the City of Irving (ICTN), “Tugg Helps Students Reduce Pet Surrender” and Tugg’s segment on the Rachael Ray Show which aired on October 29.
As a kick off to our project, we made and passed out 500 mini comic books named “A Puppy Story” throughout Grapevine, Euless, Colleyville, Keller, and Bedford areas. The mini-books were distributed to Trick-or-Treaters on Halloween. “A Puppy Story” educated on the benefit of adopting pets after the holidays.
We also launched an informational website to help our community on making an educated decisions and responsible pet ownership. Our goal is to show that with proper training, our pets can be welcomed and permanent members of the family.
We are continually adding to our website and making materials to educate our community. Most recently, we added educational games and a digital picture book called, “Winter Edition: Comic PAW.”
Our goal is to make a difference in our community, but we can`t do this alone. We need your help to educate the community on responsible pet ownership so pets are welcomed members of the family rather than a burden that may need to be surrendered to an animal shelter. We would like to spread our message and share our story. Please visit our website and visit YouTube to see our video:
https://sites.google.com/a/gcisdstudents.net/hms-paw-team/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXTQEA8uqFc
If you would like more information please contact our teacher, Mrs. Laura Bookbinder, at Laura.Bookbinder@gcisd.net or 817-305-4790.