Animal attraction: pets find a place on campus
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Draped on the arm on librarian Chelsea Hamilton Snapey the Snake lives in a terrarium in the library. While some people may have a fear of snakes, librarian Chelsea Hamilton has taken in the 2-year-old corn snake as a pet.
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Bringing Snapey the Snake to school since 2019, the school library has become Snapey’s permanent home. Librarian Chelsea Hamilton sees her snake as a way to attract student to the library.
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Slithering into the library, Snapey the Snake roams on librarian Chelsea Hamilton’s arm. Hamilton has receive good feedback from students “I think the pets add more of a fun kind of aspect to school,” freshman Pritika Bhasin said.
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In his terrarium, Snapey the snake slithers around his home. The 2-year-old corn snake is non-venomous and is currently 4 feet long.
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Snapey the Snake, a two-year-old corn snake, now resides in the school library. Snapey has increased engagement within the library and has been easy to maintain, only needing to be fed once a week and not needing much attention while Hamilton is working.
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All the guppies used to sit in Scott Li’s HGAP classroom nameless. However, after a class project with naming a fish as an award, Sebastian and Bobby, pictured above, were named.
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Guppies have helped develop chemistry in Scott Li’s social studies classes. Easy to maintain and not causing much of a disturbance, a lot of students love the fish.
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A fish tank isn’t the typical classroom attraction. However, several guppies have found their home in HGAP teacher Scott Li’s classroom and have even been the focus of a class project.
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At last, it’s Friday, and that means it’s time to eat.
And boy is he hungry.
After all, he hasn’t had anything to eat all week.
But that’s completely normal.
He’s not malnourished, or being underfed in anyway.
He’s a snake.
And he only eats on Friday when librarian Chelsea Hamilton feeds him.
The favorite meal of Snapey Snake, Hamilton’s 2-year-old corn snake she keeps in the office of the library, is a frozen mouse.
“I have always wanted a pet in school,” Hamilton said. “I believe it helps engage students during their time here in some cases.”
Ever since 2019, Hamilton has been keeping Snapey at school, to the point where it’s grown to be his home. She sees this opportunity as a way of attracting students to the library, while also not having to worry about him while she works most of the day.
“He’s very shy, but at the same time really good with the students,” Hamilton said. “I get a lot of students here because of that, and some who have never even been in the library before.”
Freshman Pritika Bhasin has met Snapey already and likes being able to interact with the reptile on campus.
“I think the pets add more of a fun kind of aspect to school,” Bhasin said. “It’s a super cool concept and it doesn’t bother me at all.”
But Hamilton isn’t the only one on campus with pets in a tank. AP Human Geography and Economics teacher Scott Li has guppie fish in his classroom tank, and until this year, they were nameless. But a class project changed all that with Sebastian, Evan Knuckles, and Lord Fishquad helping develop chemistry in Li’s social studies classes.
“I think that as long as it’s not a disturbance and not too hard to maintain, the class has become a lot more fun,” he said. “Students really love the pets. I definitely hope to continue keeping the same energy we have in the classroom now for the rest of the year and so on.”
