Hi Boys and Girls,

Did you read Zuma’s post about doing community service?  Isn’t that a great idea?  Well I went to see a class today that is doing a wonderful community project.

Mrs. Andrews 3^rd grade class from Pelham Elementary in Pelham NH has started baking dog biscuits to sell.  The money they raise will be donated to the Animal Rescue Network of New England (ARNNE).  This is an organization that helps find homes for rescued animals.  Every month they have a Pet Adoption day where pets from several shelters and foster homes come to meet humans looking to adopt a pet.  Tables are set up by some of the rescue groups and they sell products to help fund their efforts.  This is where I found Mrs. Andrews class.

Mrs. Andrews is a really cool teacher.  She believes that learning needs to relate to real life.  An example is you don’t just teach fractions, you learn to use fractions by following recipes, doubling recipes, halving recipes etc.  For all subjects, she gives her students as much real life experience as she can.  So when she saw another teacher and class making and selling dog biscuits, she thought, “we can do that too”.  With that Bow Wow Biscuits was started.

I got to talk with the little humans (students) in Mrs. Andrews class.  They were great. They hugged me, gave me belly rubs, and let me sample some of their doggie biscuits.  The biscuits were sooooooooooo good, I had to know what was in them and how they made them.  The students said they used all human ingredients- flour, chicken broth, oats, wheat germ, cornmeal and vegetable oil.  They told my human that even she could eat some.  She didn’t but a few of the students said they had tried the treats and that they were good.  To make the biscuits, the students mix all the ingredients, roll out the dough and then use dog bone shaped cookie cutters to cut out the individual biscuits.  The school kitchen allowed the class to use the kitchen’s ovens to bake the biscuits.

Baking the biscuits was just the first step to their new business.  The students had to package the biscuits, make tags for the bags, and then make signs and order forms for their first sale.   

Their hard work paid off.  They have made a profit of $130 which they have given to ARNNE. They will continue their efforts by taking orders having a once a month bake day, and going to more Pet Adoption Days. Mrs. Andrews received a new recipe on Saturday for Cinnamon Apple biscuits.  She hopes to either make some of them or other flavors on their next bake day to expand their line of biscuits.  WOW, I can’t wait.  I know they are going to taste as good as the chicken biscuits they  made.

Mrs. Andrews class has become our first to receive Zuma’s community service certificate.  If your class is doing a project that benefits your community please write us and let us know.  We’d love to feature you on our site.

Hope to see you out on the trail,

Gypsy