Students aid Second Chance shelter

By Jennifer Grybowski
Turley Publications Reporter

STURBRIDGE- Tantasqua Regional High School (TRHS) students Riley Mann, Mike Brothers, Justin Navarro and Jenna Howarth took their classes to the dogs by volunteering at Second Chance Animal Shelter. The project was a community service effort put forth as part of Roberta Dunn’s Dynamics In Democracy class at TRHS.
The students didn’t know what their assignment was until they arrived each day. They said they mostly walked the dogs, but also cut blankets and sheets for the pens, cleaned cages, washed out stalls and took the cats out for playtime.
“They gave the dogs extra time out by taking them for walks and worked on special projects,” Second Chance Animal Shelter President Sheryl Brackley said. “They were always a big help because we are always in need of volunteers.”
The students said they all enjoyed their time at the shelter.
“It was a good experience,” Brothers said. “It felt like the dogs appreciated it a lot. I liked this one dog a lot, but he got adopted and I was happy.”
Navarro also had a dog he was fond of, Duke, and he also got adopted.
“It was sad,” he said.
Mann said she loved volunteering right away.
“We fit right in and it felt really good,” Mann said. “The animals remember me. The dogs don’t bark anymore when I walk in.”
The students had different reasons for choosing to volunteer, but mostly they are all fans of animals. Navarro said he volunteered because, simply, he likes dogs. Some of the other students knew people who had volunteered in the past, including Brothers, whose sister has volunteered in the past.
“I knew a group who did it before and I thought it would be a good experience,” Mann said.
Brothers wasn’t disappointed.
“It was fantastic,” Brothers said. “For my senior year, it was a good experience.”
Mann said she plans to continue volunteering this summer.
“It made me feel really good that they weren’t sitting there,” she said. “They all got adopted really quickly.”
Brackley said that although the shelter benefitted from having the students volunteer, she also saw the students reaping benefits, making them well-rounded people.
“The important thing is they learn about the needs of the shelter and what goes on at the shelter,” she said. “It is good they go into the world and have an understanding and can spread the word and can be good advocates for us.”