Polk Middle School in Albuquerque has partnered with the Bernalillo County Animal Shelter to help dogs find new homes by having students write resumes from the perspective of dogs applying for the position of man's best friend, according to a KOB article published April 14.
"The middle school is a community school, so projects like these highlight the partnerships they have with various organizations," the article said. "Plus, it helps everyone, whether they have two legs or four."
“Have I ever written a resume before? For a dog, no,” said student Bella Barahona, who wrote for a 3-year-old black-and-white pit bull named King. “At first I thought it was kinda weird ’cause it’s not what I thought we would do from our last assignment.”
To begin the assignment, each student received a purple folder with information about a dog currently residing in the Bernalillo County shelter. The students became excited after seeing pictures of the dogs.
“As soon as I was assigned a dog, I changed my mind and thought this would be fun," said student Abigail Pardo-Thul. "I’d get to learn about a dog I haven’t even met and help it find a home.”
“I am delighted at what they are coming up with. It's very original and that is what we were going for,” said shelter volunteer program facilitator Diane Longenecker.
Although the students didn't meet the dogs for whom they wrote resumes, a special guest appeared at school April 13 who delivered thank-you cards from all of the dogs that had been helped.
“We always welcome any type of engagement that we can get to help support any type of learning," said Polk Middle School assistant principal Jonathon Aranda. "Any type of classroom instruction gives them those opportunities, even outside the classroom."
Both the middle school and the shelter received support from Animal Protection New Mexico to create the assignment. The group said that many shelters across the Albuquerque metro area are at or above capacity, and that they hope that projects such as these will boost adoptions in the future.