ZooDay Goes Virtual in 2nd Grade

Any student who has spent time in Kathy Wild’s 2nd grade classroom will tell you about the pets. As a self-described animal lover, Wild currently plays mom to many pets —several of which stay at school during the academic year: a bearded dragon named Creature, a Hermann’s tortoise called Tortellini, guinea pigs Wallace and Gromit, rescued rabbits Flopsy and Stitch and Hobbes the hamster.

 

Before remote learning, Wild’s students participated in a scheduled “ZooDay” each week when interested students could stay in during afternoon recess to play with the animals. These students developed special relationships with each other stemming from their deep love for animals. Wild shared, “Having animals in the classroom brings out a side of children that you don’t see when they are working academically. Pets bring joy, reduce stress, cause laughter, reduce aggression and help children develop empathy and responsibility.”

 

When school dismissed for remote learning in mid-March, Wild knew she would need to integrate the pets into her remote learning curriculum. Unfortunately, the same crisis that forced children from their classrooms also brought home her daughter, Parker graduate Sydney ’16, from Emerson College in Los Angeles where she was studying filmmaking. As disappointing as this was for Sydney, her skills went to good use.

 

Much like her mother, Sydney is an animal lover and took ownership of the entire process of filming, selecting music and editing weekly ZooDay films. Wild’s son, Parker graduate Zak ’15, was luckily also on hand and assists in many aspects of the process of producing each clip.

 

The family’s first video was a collection of clips featuring all the animals to assure the children that they were all well, still cute and as much a part of the classroom as they had always been, despite currently sheltering in place at the Wild abode.

 

 

Since then, they have been sharing weekly videos; they are currently working on their eighth installment, “Race to the Finish.” Past videos are embedded below for all to share:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wild has loaned some of her pets to families of only children who don’t have siblings or animals to keep them company or bring them comfort. Wild shared, “We all are feeling isolated, but these children in particular are feeling lonely right now.” Flopsy and Hobbes are spending their COVID-19 days with Wild class families and hopefully bringing some company, joy and humor during a challenging time of isolation.

 

Reflecting upon her 15+ years teaching at Parker, Wild said, “Community is such a valuable part of the Parker experience, and whatever it takes to keep it intact while we need to be home is so important. It is what gives our work meaning and joy and brings life to the mission of our school.”

 

Thanks to the efforts of Wild and her family, the bonds in her 2nd grade community of students and animals have only grown stronger, despite this period of social distancing.

 

Note: Sydney Wild ’16 has officially graduated from Emerson in the field of film editing. She is passionate about her craft, very talented and available to work. For more, contact her at sydney_wild@emerson.edu