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2010-02-09

2010-01-19

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Friday, November 20, 2009 11:00 AM

Central Heights students raise money to ‘adopt’ exotic animals

By VICKIE MOSS, Herald Public Affairs Editor

Renee Gragg wants to help animals in Australia.

Gragg, a sophomore at Central Heights High School, is concerned about how such issues as global warming and logging affect animals in Australia. She and other students learned about the continent from a speaker at the school earlier this year.

So Gragg was happy to be part of a program that helps endangered animals, including some in Australia.

Central Heights students recently raised $500 to adopt 10 animals symbolically through the World Wildlife Fund.

“We got to save the wombat and a giant tortoise from Australia,” Gragg said. “To me personally — and I’m sure to everyone — that’s really important.”

It’s the third year for the program, which is organized by Amanda Stinebaugh, a science teacher at the school. Students in all grade levels raise money for the adoptions.

Collections were down this year, after students raised $1,150 last year to adopt 23 animals. Stinebaugh said she expected fewer donations because of the economy. Still, she was pleased the school was able to meet a goal of adopting 10 animals.

Stinebaugh picks different animals each year from a list of endangered species. She tries to pick unusual animals — many other teachers incorporate learning about the animals into their lesson plans.

One of the most unique animals adopted this year was the okapi, Stinebaugh said. It’s from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in central Africa. It has stripes like a zebra but is more closely related to a giraffe.

She said some students were a little squeamish about a couple of other animals, like the anaconda snake and vampire bat.

Kolby Goranson, a junior, said his favorite is the clouded leopard. He donated money because it was a chance to do something good for endangered animals, he said.

The program helps students realize they can make a difference, Stinebaugh said.

“Everybody can be part of something that is bigger than they are,” she said.

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