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Article posted: 9/22/2012 7:53 AM

Groups lend a hand to teachers with classroom pets

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Hailey Fink gets acquainted with a corn snake in the first-grade classroom of Dawn Slinger in Farmington, Minn.

Associated Press

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A tortoise walks on a coloring project by Gavin Thoen in the first-grade classroom of Dawn Slinger in Farmington, Minn. When the school year is over, each student's work becomes a book.

Associated Press

Rhyen Miska, left, and Dillon Wolfe take notes as they observe frogs and toads in the first-grade classroom of Dawn Slinger in Farmington, Minn. Students watch, research, draw and write about the animals as they compile their observations in a journal.

Associated Press

About this Article

For many children, their first pet is a virtual one. Experts say many children who enter the first grade can play video games but few have a pet to play with. And teachers say that's a shame, considering how animals can enrich a child's upbringing. So for a quarter of a century, educators such as Dawn Slinger in Farmington, Minn., have paid out of their own pockets to provide one for their classrooms. Only in the past few years have groups stepped in to help with the financial burden.