Students from Mrs. Vumbaco’s fifth grade class visited the Capital Region BOCES Pet Tech program on March 12, learning about animals ranging from geckos to bearded dragons and canines that Pet Tech students learn to care for.
Career and Technical Education (CTE) Teacher Helen Thompson and her students guided the younger learners through various stations as the high schools students shared their experiences in grooming canines, feeding bearded dragons and caring for geckos, fish rabbits and other animals.
“This is so cool! I can’t believe I got to touch a dragon,” exclaimed fifth grade student Joseph after petting Slick, a bearded dragon.
Thompson said the experience benefitted both Pinewood students and her CTE students who had to prepare and deliver talking points about the various animals and communicate in a way that was understandable by the young scholars.
There are 30 students enrolled in Capital Region BOCES Pet Tech program which teaches students basic care skills for animals, including grooming, washing and best practices for boarding. Students also learn about customer service, written and spoken communication, office and computer skills, phone etiquette, budgeting and money management, inventory and ordering, advertising, basic accounting and business math.