Hundreds of students had a chance to see rescued animals and wildlife up close through the Guelph Humane Society’s (GHS) virtual field trip on Thursday.
“There's definitely a demand for virtual things right now because the students aren't in school,” said Natalie Thomas, communications coordinator at the GHS.
“A lot of the teachers are looking to keep their kids engaged and are looking to allow the kids to learn and provide them with education and try to do it in new ways every day so this was one way to give back to the students and the teachers in our community.”
On Thursday, over 500 YouTube accounts streamed two virtual tours on the GHS’s YouTube Channel, one for Grade 1 to 4 and another for Grade 5 to 8.
The Grade 1 to 4 video introduces students to small animals such as bunnies and cats and teaches them how to care for them. It also teaches them the proper way to greet a strange dog.
The Grade 5 to 8 video focuses on careers centred around animals. It introduces the children to Nicole Abbott, an animal protection officer who talks about her job and her duties on call that include rescuing animals and injured wildlife. The video also allows the students to see wildlife up close when Abbott shows an injured pigeon.
“That’s really neat. Most people won't ever see a pigeon up close like that,” said Thomas.
Both videos are available on the GHS’s YouTube Channel and have a worksheet included in the video description for teachers to share with their students.
Prior to the pandemic, students would be allowed to meet the animals, learn about them and even pet them at the GHS building.
“This is the only way they can get a glimpse of the animals behind the scenes right now,” said Thomas.
“It's come up to almost a year where we haven't had the public in our building. We thought this was an easy way to get people inside and see some of the animals we have.”
She said the GHS received a lot of positive feedback from teachers saying the students really enjoyed seeing the animals.
“A couple of parents reached out to say they appreciated the knowledge and instruction on how to approach dogs just from a safety perspective,” said Thomas.
She said the live video saw 528 YouTube accounts join in to see the live video. And given that each teacher logs in for their entire class, the number of viewers for the video must be much higher.
The GHS is currently preparing to move into its new building in the upcoming weeks. Thomas said once they have settled in, they will prepare more tours.
“We would love to take all the students and teachers and really the whole community into our new building and if it still has to be virtually, then we’re prepared for some virtual tours as well,” said Thomas.