Pre-kindergarten through 9th grade teachers who are interested in owning or who already own a classroom pet can apply to receive funding through the Pets in the Classroom grant program.
The Pet Care Trust’s Pets in the Classroom grant program will be accepting applications for the 2022-2023 school year beginning August 1, 2022.
The grant program, which was established by the Pet Care Trust, provides funding for a small animal or pet supplies to pre-kindergarten through 9th grade teachers in both private and public schools who desire to introduce a pet into the classroom or who already have a pet in the classroom. Interested teachers are invited to apply.
While classroom pets are a valuable teaching tool, many teachers have very limited resources for the support of classroom animals. Through the grant program, teachers have the option of obtaining a pet from one of the program’s participating retailers — Petco, Petsmart, Pet Supermarket, Pet Supplies Plus, and Petland — or of purchasing their pet from a local pet store through a rebate grant. Past grant recipients are not eligible to receive funding for a new classroom pet, but are welcome to apply for a sustaining grant, which provides up to $50 to maintain an existing classroom pet or purchase another classroom pet. With seven different grant types available, each teacher has the opportunity to choose the grant that is right for him or her through a direct, no-hassle application on the Pets in the Classroom website (www.PetsintheClassroom.org).
The Impact of Classroom Pets
Classroom pets have made a substantial impact in the lives of students during the 2021-22 school year. Through a survey conducted this spring by the Pets in the Classroom grant program, teachers across the U.S. and Canada shared valuable insight into the multitude of ways that students are benefiting from interacting with pets in an educational setting:
- 98% of teachers saw an increase in empathy and compassion, thanks to a classroom pet.
- 98% of teachers saw an increase in student responsibility.
- 98% of teachers saw an increase in student engagement.
- 96% of teachers saw an increase in social skills.
- 95% of teachers saw some decrease in anxiety among students.
- 94% of teachers surveyed saw an improvement in students’ self-esteem.
- 90% saw a decrease in necessary student disciplinary measures.
- 86% of teachers saw an improvement in attendance due to their classroom pet.
- 84% of teachers saw an improvement in test/academic performance.
The survey results, which included hundreds of stories shared by teachers, reinforce the results of numerous studies: there are many benefits that pets can provide to students, especially in the form of social-emotional support. Through the survey, teachers shared stories about children who were able to overcome anxiety upon returning to school, those whose anger and behavioral issues subsided after a classroom pet helped them learn empathy, those who became motivated in learning, and more. One teacher stated, “We have utilized our pets as anxiety reducers for tests such as the STAAR, or simple motivators to positive behaviors and completing work. The pets are known all around the school and my students’ confidence has grown immensely as they take the pets into other classes and introduce them. I’ve found my students are empathetic and share more with a pet than they did without them in our classroom. The difference in behaviors is also astonishing.”
The Impact of the Pets in the Classroom grant program:
During the 2021-22 school year, 19,100 Pets in the Classroom grants were awarded to teachers, bringing the total number of grants issued to over 202,697 since the program’s inception in 2010, meaning an estimated 8.1 million children have experienced the joys and benefits of pet care through the grant program. As teachers look for more ways to help with students’ social-emotional needs in the upcoming school year, the Pets in the Classroom grant program is ready to help by providing funding for classroom pets to pre-K – 9th grade teachers across the U.S. and Canada beginning August 1.
For more information, visit www.PetsintheClassroom.org.
