Owasso Class Pets: Meet the Robisons!
By Olivia Voth
While some days at Owasso High School are wild enough in their own way, some teachers long for a companion to keep them company constantly throughout the day despite the many students switching from class to class. Owasso High School is home to some crazy creatures that make the class period more worthwhile. It’s healthy for students to work alongside a domestic animal. It can be therapeutic, educational and fun. But which class pet is the coolest? Students can embark on an exploration of Owasso’s class pet by meeting Mrs. Robison’s tiny teaching assistants.
Mrs. Courtney Robison teaches Marine Biology at Owasso High, and her classroom is currently home to 10 class pets.
Photo Collage of Class Pets; photos provided by Mrs. Robison
Since she teaches Marine Biology, many of Mrs. Robison’s class pets are saltwater fish as well as invertebrates. The pair of clownfish (pictured above in top left) are a primary example. The black and white clownfish is a female, while the orange and white is a male. Mrs. Robinson uses her class pets as teaching tools by displaying differences in gender characteristics in many underwater species.
“Interesting fact: All clownfish are born male and the largest dominant clownfish [changes] from male to female,” provides Robison on the subject.
The yellow fish pictured with the clownfish is named Gilligan, and he is a foxface rabbitfish. Gilligan’s favorite food is algae, but in order to prevent him from becoming the food himself, he has toxins in the spines along his back in order to discourage predators.
Pictured in the bottom left corner of the collage is Chip, a chocolate chip sea star. His species originates from the Indo-Pacific Region, but he lives happily here at Owasso High School. When it comes to food, these types of sea stars are known as opportunistic scavengers in their native ocean homes, meaning they eat what they can when they can get it. This leads to a diet mainly consisting of corals, shellfish, clams, sponges and decaying plant matter. However, here at the high school, he feeds off the love from students and Mrs. Robison herself.
Photo of Jake the Snake taken by Julia Clingan
The adorable reptilian friend photographed at the top right is the most popular reptile in the whole school. Jake, “from Snake Farm” as he is affectionately dubbed, is a 3 year old Ball Python. Mrs. Robison mentioned that he is known as a class favorite. With his sparkly doe eyes and his boopable puppy snoot, he is difficult to resist for animal lovers all over the school. Ball Pythons are the smallest type of python native to Africa and make great animal companions. However, students should still be careful of them, considering how easy it is to fall in love with them, as well as how affectionately they will cuddle your hands and arms.
Captured in the bottom center of the photo collage are the leopard geckos, Mike and Dale. Leopard geckos are one of the only types of geckos with eyelids, and because they are nocturnal desert natives they are popular as low maintenance pets. Geckos are typically mellow, and they are far from dangerous, so the only thing to be worried about is their constant advertisement of car and home insurance.
Finally, pictured at the bottom right are the axolotls, Toothless (black) and Freckles (white). Axolotls are native to Mexico and are critically endangered in the wild, but are popular as animal ambassadors in zoos as well as exotic pets in captivity.
Owasso High School is wild in itself, but there’s always a good opportunity to learn from the critters of our world rather than books and assignments. In fact, studies have shown that over 50 percent of teachers use their class pets as an important part of teaching their curriculum to their students. It also keeps students excited to learn and helps stimulate learning, which can increase focus and engagement, especially from students with unique learning styles. Class pets keep class exciting for both students and teachers of all kinds, and they truly make each day at Owasso High School better.