Getting To Know Your Teacher’s Pets

     It’s interesting how humans find connection with other animals, and bond with each other in ways deeper than we can with ourselves. Since the beginning of human existence, we literally have fallen in love with animals; we domesticated them, worshiped them like gods, and brought them into our homes. Oxford Languages defines the noun “Pet” as a “domestic or tamed animal kept for companionship or pleasure.” But, it seems the word “pet” isn’t good enough for describing our in-human bundles of joy, especially to our fellow teachers here at Cavelero.

     In this article, we will get to meet some of our Teacher’s pets. And no, these are NOT our classmates. It’s important to learn about them because not only is it an opportunity to take a peek at some adorable animals, but to get to know our teachers on another level and learn a little about them. That way, you don’t just look at your teachers and think of the bad grade they gave you on the test you thought you rocked.

#1: Mrs. Yoshihara

     If you are an 8th Grader taking Challenge Science or a freshman in Physical Science, you may be lucky enough to know Mrs. Yoshihara, also known as Mrs. Yoshi, and sometimes referred to as just “Yosh.” Yoshi has four pets; one dog, who is named Spud, one cat which is named Flower, a rabbit named Pig, and finally a bearded dragon named Nugget.

     Her daughter has an “obsession” with animals, she says. “She will graduate this year and go to school to be a vet tech.” This seems to be the reason why their house is bustling with four-legged babies. They’ve had a timeline with cats, and they even had another dog at one point named Keeva who was half-German Shepherd, but they were too busy to take care of her so she had to be rehomed. Thankfully, Yoshi’s Aunt and Uncle were able to take care of her, and they have seven acres of land for her to roam about. Their dogs like to run while her Uncle drives around in a golf cart. Yoshi also mentions that they’ve had chickens, ducks, parakeets, hamsters, fish and more dogs.

#2: Mrs Kinnard

     Mrs. Kinnard is one of the most wonderful English teachers you could ask for. If you’re an 8th grader, you may know her from being in one of her Challenge English classes. If you’re a freshman, taking the higher path and being in Pre-AP English, you may also know her. She has three cats; Jackson, Jade, and Jasper.

     She got Jackson and Jade for her daughter’s sixteenth birthday (about seven years ago), and Jasper was also given to her already cat-lucky daughter by a boy who asked her to homecoming (about six years ago). After her daughter went off to college, Mrs. Kinnard kept a hold of the cats and looked after them. Jackson and Jade both came from a cat shelter. Kinnard gushes, “My husband saw them online and fell in love with Jade’s face.”

      When asked about a favorite memory with them, Kinnard grins affectionately at the thought of her furrball babies. “There are so many,” she starts. “On our screen door we put this little cat door in so they can go in and out onto the deck…  last year we noticed a lot of little frogs in the house, and we figured one of [the cats were] bringing the frogs inside. Some dead frogs, some living frogs, I would say two or three a week. I think the cat must’ve carried it in her mouth, and just set it inside, and then chased it around, I don’t know, but it’s been pretty comical! So now that spring is coming, I’m anticipating more frogs coming in the house!”

     Kinnard states that she grew up with a cat, named Sudzie. 

     “She slept with me every night,” she longingly recalls. “She was sweet. She liked to get up on the counter and eat butter off the butter dish.” Sudzie lived to be eighteen, which is a very complete, healthy, and happy life for a cat.

#3: Mr. Fraser

     Mr. Fraser is literally one of the most awesome teachers at Cav. If you are a freshman in English 9, you may know him, and it’s certain that if you’re in Journalism or Speech and Debate you are familiar with him. Mr. Fraser has two cats; their names are Antony and Cleopatra, and he has owned them for five years. 

     Once, Mr. Fraser’s wife went to a cat cafe in Edmonds for the experience because neither she nor Mr. Fraser had been to one before. When Fraser’s wife was at the cafe, Cleo (or Cleopatra) came up and sat on her lap. After some time, she eventually got up and left, coming back shortly with Antony and they both fell asleep and cuddled on her lap. After that encounter, his wife decided that they would get cats in the near future. 

     “…one of my favorite parts of going home is seeing them, or keeping track of whatever mischief they’ve gotten up to,” Fraser starts as he searches his mind for a favorite memory of his four-pawed babies. 

     “With Antony, one of my favorite memories is at our old apartment, there was a shelf in the room where we kept their food, and there was never anything up there. If anything, we maybe kept a box of unused litter up there when we didn’t have need to pour it. And, for some reason I kept seeing him walk into the room, look up with such an intent look, and do what was about a seven-foot vertical leap up there. And there was nothing even up there! I guess he just wanted to be tall.

     “And with Cleo, I would say that for the past couple of months, she has developed a morning routine alongside mine, and I’m convinced that it’s just there to convince me to stay home and not go to work. She follows me into the bathroom as I’m going to take a shower, she flops down on the rug, and kinda does this weird roll back and forth like shes a caterpillar, and then when I’m getting out, she literally screams (because she never learned to ‘meow’ properly) until I come over and pet her. Just very intentional manipulation to keep me from leaving. One of these days it’s going to work,” he jokes.

     In the past, Fraser’s grandparents had a dog named Scruffy, who was around for many years of his life. His grandfather found her in the streets, and decided to take her in. However, he wanted to test Scruffy’s temperament before letting Fraser’s grandma know, so he kept Scruffy in an old motorhome outside their house and would secretly bring out food to feed her. Once, Fraser’s grandmother was out tending to the garden when she noticed a dog sitting in the front seat looking out at her. Despite being surprised, she adored Scruffy and she made the perfect fit for the home. 

     Fraser says that he admires the memory of his grandparents bringing leftover scraps of food from restaurants home for Scruffy to eat, especially after they would make a trip to Dick’s Drive-In and his grandma would give Scruffy the end of her burger. Because of this, she would be able to identify the smell of burger wrappers, and she would go rooting through the trash to retrieve them.

#4: Mr. Martin

     Mr. Martin teaches history for the 8th graders at Cavelero, and it’s pretty likely that you may know him. He is genuinely one of the most hilarious teachers here because of the pranks he pulls and witty sense of humor. You know from the first day of school that you’re in for a treat.

     Martin has two pets; a mini Maltese named Coco, and an African side neck Aquatic Turtle named Kobe. Kobe has been around for about ten years, whereas Coco is a newer relative, having only been there for six months. Martin decided to get Kobe for his son when he was five years old because he wanted a pet really bad, but Martin’s wife is allergic and it’s difficult finding a hypo-allergenic dog, so the right decision was obviously something hairless. So, after a stop at Bridge’s Pets, the shell-clad reptile made its way home into Mr. Martin’s family. Coco came about when one of Martin’s golfing buddies mentioned having a puppy for sale, and in came another pet.

     One of Martin’s favorite memories with Kobe is when his son (who was only six at the time) came out to the garage one day “sobbing” with a bloody finger, and said that Kobe bit him when he stuck his hand into the tank to pet him. Martin adds, “Lesson learned son!” 

     Martin also includes: “Coco has been such a blessing to our family and has brought us all closer together.  She loves each of us and we all have our different times when she hangs out with us.  She has brought so much life into our lives and she is just so cute.”

     When they lived in Africa, they had a jack russell terrier named Snoopy. However, when they made the move, she had to be left behind. “She was so sweet and protected us from black mambas and anything that moved outside.  It was so hard to leave her there but she is with a wonderful family.”

     It was very interesting to get the chance to learn about our teachers a little and their pets, and the entire time while I was putting this together I couldn’t help but giggle at some of the hilarious stories our teachers had to share, and melt at each of the adorable pictures of the pets. This was one of the most enjoyable articles I’ve written and I loved hearing about all the pets. Each pet I have learned about is definitely well-loved and treated like a human member of the family.