Four-footed Staff Teach Students Empathy

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Anneliese student Maxim Silyaev receives the attention of a pet alpaca at the school.
Anneliese student Maxim Silyaev receives the attention of a pet alpaca at the school.

The educational experience at Anneliese Schools strives to challenge children’s intellect as well as their humanity, conscience, and creativity. Alpacas, donkeys, and miniature horses play a vital component in the mix, Janet O’Faolain, the school’s animal program coordinator, says in an announcement from the campus.

The private school’s three horses, Baldazar, Willow, and Katie, led last month’s Laguna Beach Patriot’s Day Parade, prepared for the din of the crowd with training by O’Faolain. As ambassadors for the school, the horses no doubt helped the entry pick up the first place novelty in the commercial category.

O’Faolain discovered the private school with three Laguna Beach campuses when searching for a school for her daughters. Administrators that initially hired her to train their mini horses at the Willowbrook campus in Laguna Canyon expanded her role with a larger program that allows the children to spend more time with the animals.

O’Faolain attended Colorado State University studying in the pre-veterinarian program. Later, after relocating locally with her husband Tedd, she pursued a master’s in dance at UC Irvine. She combined her love of movement with therapeutic horsemanship and volunteered at the Shea Center for several years before studying to become a certified instructor with the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship.

Now, she offers enrichment classes that involve the animals at the school, which enrolls students in nursery school to sixth-grade. Students learn basic horsemanship skills such as horse care, grooming, tack, health concerns, and leading. Recently, a farrier came and demonstrated his work with the horses and even forged horseshoes for all of the class members.

Her goal for students is to interact with the school’s menagerie, which includes birds, by devising lesson plans that inspire students to think creatively, act bravely, and consider the needs of others.

School animal program coordinator Janet O’Faolain during the Patriot’s Day Parade.

Most afternoons during lunch recess, students visit with the animals on the hill and help fill water buckets and clean up as needed. The animals and students have come to rely on this respite from the routine. As one proud parent said, “through the animal program, my granddaughter has learned respect for animals, acceptance, and has experienced an all encompassing cycle of life.”

 

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