Students in Moore Norman Technology Center’s Career Exploration Education program have worked most of this school year to assist Second Chance Animal Sanctuary in Norman with raising funds, getting donations, purchasing pet supplies themselves and most importantly, growing in their understanding of what service means by giving of their time and hard work.

The CEE students are active members of the SkillsUSA national student organization. In November they decided as a class that Second Chance was to be their main community service project that they would later present for a SkillsUSA competition.

Since then, each week students go one mile up the road from MNTC’s Franklin Road Campus to the Second Chance site to do laundry, clean cages, scrub floors, change litter boxes and brush and play with the cats and dogs. They also assist in walking dogs.

CEE Instructor Zena Amer said, “Of course a project like this is good for our community and helps Second Chance in a big way, but we do it because it’s the right thing to do. I want my kids to leave my class knowing that they can each make a difference in their community; they only have to stand up and volunteer.”

Students of the CEE program who did much of the project organizing are Moore High School junior Elijah Lesley, Southmoore High School juniors Brooklyn Bors and Emily Pierce, Westmoore High School junior Mackenzie Martin and Norman North High School junior Erin Crawford.

“Projects like this help us grow to become better people. It also shows us that even though we don't hold a position of great power we can make a difference in this world," said Bors.

Amer, who is now in her 35th and last school year teaching at MNTC, continually leads her CEE students to discover ways in which they can make a difference by volunteering in MNTC’s district of Norman, Moore and south Oklahoma City.

The CEE class has been able to generate support and donations from local stores such as the Neighborhood Marketplace on South Santa Fe Ave. in Moore, Unlock Only, the Pre-K classes at Central, Earlywine and Wayland Bonds Elementary Schools in south Oklahoma City. Raising Canes in Moore also donated 15 percent of all purchases made from patrons supporting their cause on March 31.

“Volunteering at Second Chance has allowed me to learn that I am truly capable of making a difference if I work hard enough alongside others who want to achieve the same goal,” said Martin.

The students set to work quickly and developed social media sites to generate greater awareness and funds for Second Chance. Their sites are:

www.gofundme.com/SecondChanceNorman
Facebook: MNTCSecondChance

To date, the CEE class has raised $420 of their $500 goal through their active GoFundMe page and hope to soon push past the $500 mark. In addition to monetary donations, they’ve collected pet toys, pet supplies and food, of which Second Chance is always in need. Donations may be made at any time, but the students said monetary gifts and gift cards often provide the most good, as Second Chance personnel can make quick purchasing decisions based on immediate need.

Through their work on the Second Chance Project, CEE students heard CEE graduate, Alayna Jackson, speak to their class about the need for more humane and simple ways to address animal overpopulation. Jackson is now an undergraduate student at Oklahoma State University and works in OSU’s veterinary clinic. She shared information about a program called Operation Catnip Stillwater, which spays and neuters free-roaming cats in a trap-neuter-return program. The process costs approximately $30 per cat.

Inspired by Stillwater’s program the CEE students have since begun the process of trying to work with local civic groups to see if there is support for starting a similar program in Norman. They have presented at the Second Chance board meeting and have plans to do the same with Cross Timbers Rotary, United Way of Norman, Norman City Council and City Animal Welfare.

"I hope we can bring an awareness to the Norman about how many cats aren't spayed or neutered. We want to show how big the problem of cats overbreeding really is in our community and make change," said Crawford.

Bors said, "My hope is that we can generate enough awareness that there’s an annual event to spay and neuter stray cats by community vet volunteers. This way - like in Stillwater - Norman’s stray cat population will dramatically decrease.”

More than anything else, Amer’s students say they have learned that when they pull together ideas and hard work they can make a lasting difference in their community. Amer said her high school students learn to set goals, communicate, plan and take action and can look back and see how their actions have produced results that have a lasting positive impact on vulnerable animals.

For more information about full-time programs at MNTC for high school students and adults visit mntc.edu or call 405-364-5763, ext. 7260.

by Anna Aguilar, APR