Eureka Springs Middle School teacher Maria Ellis sits in her classroom on the Friday before Christmas break, surrounded by homemade cat and dog toys her students created. The students worked on this project for Ellis’ design and modeling class over the first semester of the school year.
“They have great ideas, and this lets them get those ideas into reality,” Ellis says.
Seventh-graders Alyssa Hall, Krista Jewell and Charlee Lopez are huddled around a stack of wand toys, the kind cats love to chase. Lopez attaches a long string to a stick using hot glue. Hall says she’s excited to donate the toys to Good Shepherd Humane Society when everyone returns from break.
“I would do anything just to see a puppy or a cat, and it means a lot to me to help,” Hall says. “I’ve always wanted to do something like this.”
Jewell loves animals, too. “I feel like they’re an important part of our lives, how they support us mentally and physically,” Jewell says. “They need to be loved as much as they love us.”
Jewell describes the process of creating the toys, saying it started with a brainstorming session. Each student in the class worked with a partner on the project, Jewell said.
“We came up with a game plan on how we were going to make these things, and then we used all our tools and the safety protocols Mrs. Ellis taught us,” Jewell says.
Across the room, seventh- grader Kingston Bradford and eighth-grader Elek Dorn independently work on cat houses constructed from cardboard boxes. Bradford shows off one of his completed boxes, featuring soft carpet for cats to lie on and toys hanging from the roof.
“I thought of everything cats love, like the feathers inside the cardboard and the carpet at the bottom, and I combined it all to make it a good place for them to sleep,” Bradford says.
Bradford has two pet cats, and he plans to give one of the boxes to his cat, Riri.
“This would be a good place for her to sleep,” he says. “The other three are going to the animal shelter.”
He first came up with the idea for a giant maze composed of five boxes, but Bradford quickly realized that would be too big. So he made two separate ones.
“Then, I just continued making more of them,” Bradford says.
Dorn takes a break from cutting cardboard, and Ellis mentions that he also created a dog toy. It’s a cardboard Frisbee with a ball in the middle. Dorn holds it up and demonstrates how you can take the ball out to play fetch.
“I have three cats and a dog,” Dorn says. “I like helping out other dogs and cats like this.”
Bradford agrees. “Out of all the projects we’ve done, this is probably my favorite,” he says.
Dorn is especially thankful that the project gave him the opportunity to explore his interests.
“I’m trying to become an engineer, and this class helps a lot with that,” Dorn says.
A big reason the project has been successful, Jewell says, is because of Ellis’ teaching style.
“I’m surprised that a teacher would go to the lengths she goes to get us our supplies and help us learn how to do stuff and not get frustrated with us when we’re learning,” Jewell says.
This is essentially a pre-engineering class, Ellis says, and she’s impressed with how the students have taken ownership of their project.
“They’ve done a great job,” Ellis says. “I’m very proud of them.”
