Fourth graders win nationwide class pet competition

Emily Scarlett anchoring/reporting
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - A group of Grand Rapids fourth graders is getting national recognition after taking first place in a competition for their success with their class pet.
Fourth grader Reese Myers, of West Side Christian School, held a small hamster in her hands for the camera and said, “He’s adorable. Look at that face.”
Cocoa the hamster is “Mr. Popular” at West Side Christian.
“He kind of gets squirmy so you have to have gentle hands to keep him under control,” said Myers.
Aubrey Bour is the teacher. She said Cocoa is “very well loved here at West Side.”
It’s her first year teaching but not her first time at this school.
“I actually attended West Side Christian as a student. So, I had been here for 10 years previously,” said Bour.
She inherited Cocoa from the previous fourth grade teacher, making this classroom the one to be in for most of the students even if they’re the ones doing all the work.
“It takes a lot of responsibility,” said 10-year-old Myers.
Bour explained how the students “clean his cage, they feed him, they make sure he has everything he needs. If we’re low on food, they let me know. I go get it.”
She also said he’s good with kids. “He is very tolerant to being with kids, I’ll say. Just the most easy-going pet. No issues ever. He doesn’t bite.”
However, there is one thing. Bour said, “Only issue - we have a really big book on top of his cage right now because he likes to escape.”
The students even sign up to take Cocoa home on the weekends and say it’s Cocoa who takes care of them.
“He like helps me through stuff and he’s just a great friend,” said Myers.
Bour said, “He really helps students come together as a group. I feel like we’re a really close-knit group here.”
10-year-old Ruby Becerra is another fourth grader in Bour’s class. She said, “He is like a mini therapist. Just like seeing him crawl around can make people really happy.”
Myers explained, “He just helps up with a lot of stuff and he’s just so cute.”
After finding out about the Pets in Classroom competition, the students, again, took the lead and put together a video. Public voting would determine the top 10.
Bour said, “We were not in the top 10.”
Despite this, their video was randomly selected to go before the judges. West Side Christian would ultimately take home the top prize of $500.
“We’re going to use that for more flexible seating. We have some wobble seats in here, but I have a lot of students who like to move and think better when they can move,” said Bour.
Melinda Thomas is the executive director of Pets in the Classroom. She said, “These pets enable kids to increase their empathy and their compassion, gives them an opportunity to show responsibility, improves their self-esteem, decreases the anxiety and improves attendance.”
She says the organization seeks to help more teachers get classroom pets-and not just your typical fish or hamster.
“Teachers can choose snakes, mice, hermit crabs - anything that fits their classroom and their personality,” said Thomas.
Pets in the Classroom hopes to enhance the development of students educationally and emotionally through the support of classroom pets. Even outside of this competition, it support teachers through grants to help with the supplies needed to maintain classroom pets.
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