Announced on April 1: Upon the start of BASH’s 2024-2025 school year, BASH will be implementing a brand new “Zoology” course, along with class pets.
With the extra open space on the third floor, a new class offered starting next school year called “Introduction to Zoology” is joining BASH in the 300s!
You may or may not be aware from the 300’s hallway, due to the fact that it’s no longer used for classes. Currently, it’s being used as storage and Special Education offices.
This new class will start as a full-year elective where students will learn about the biology of animals and the facts to take care of them. It’ll even allow students to experience one-on-one time with each animal! Classrooms will be turned into pens for some for the larger animals coming to BASH, including miniature horses and baby llamas. Classrooms will also turn into playrooms for smaller animals, including dogs, cats, reptiles, and even monkeys!
The official list of animals for the zoology course will be dogs, cats, miniature horses, llamas, ball pythons, Zambian house snakes, bunnies, and monkeys.
In order to take this course, students will need full health and allergy documents, history with animals, and a willingness to get messy! The school has placed funds for the animals and their care needs, but starting in 2024, students participating in Introduction to Zoology will have sales of chocolate, pet food, and even a possible raffle for gift cards.
Along with this course, regular classes will have new surprising new members, class pets! BASD introduced this idea in hopes of creating a more fun and relaxing learning environment in the classroom for everyone! This is in light of recent studies, released by the CDC, showing an overall decline in teen mental health. It goes along with a complementary study showing how animals and pets have shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other mental health struggles that plague our youth today.
Student council, as well as BASD administration, has been taking in-class pets as a consideration for some time now. They have just recently made it final, class pets are a go! This decision was made at last week’s “Board of Directors” meeting, on Tuesday night. The decision was a unanimous vote by the board, as they continue efforts to raise awareness of teen mental health.
“It’s exciting, I feel like it gives something to look forward to in class!” says McKenzie Kluk, a junior here at BASH. McKenzie is an avid animal lover; she, along with many other BASH students, sees the good this can do. “I’m looking forward to my class guinea pig, it’s going to make the day so much better,” she followed up with.
With all these new additions to BASH, the 2024-2025 year will definitely go down as a unique one!
Note: All events are fake. Happy April Fools!
