GREEN RIVER — Reptiles and scaly animals are being used in an Expedition Academy High School classroom to not only provide education opportunities, but to aid in social and emotional connection.

Science teacher Dan Parson said what started with one turtle, Athena, and a Kenyan sand boa, has since turned into “a jungle.” This jungle provides a huge benefit to students, and in particular, the students who are going through tough times.

“What became very clear to me … for many students, especially those who have maybe seen some tough times in life, they often bond with animals a lot more easily than people,” Parson said.

Parson said animals don’t judge you, hurt you, or try to put you in a box to try to make you conform.

“The social, emotional, complex pressures of human interactions can be too much for some,” he said.

In Parson’s classroom at EA, each student in his class are assigned one animal to research, keep data on, and take care of. This scientific study creates an interesting way for students to learn while still meeting state standards. Additionally, they are each assigned three plants to take care of as well. For the plant aspect of the classroom, they conduct hands-on research on growing different types of plants and soil, aeroponic and hydroponic, and they compare those.

“Last year we figured out which types of fertilizers work best within all those systems, and this year we’re trying to figure out which species grow best in those,” Parson said. He added that eventually they’d like to start a greenhouse and sell tomatoes and other plants they grow.

However, the highlight of Parson’s room is definitely the 18 different animals living in the classroom.

Parson said the animals spark scientific curiosity, turning the students into mini researchers who collect observations and discover patterns. They also develop data-driven responsibility, where students don’t just learn when feeding time is but rather track weights, temperatures, and other data over time, becoming scientists as they care for the animals’ long-term welfare.

The animals also boost empathy, strengthen problem solving and critical thinking, and deepen ecosystem insights.

The Animals

EA student, Allyssa Compton, spoke to the Sweetwater County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees last week about taking care of a milk snake called Neil. She said when she first started taking care of him, he didn’t want to be held and was very scared. After holding him for a while and bonding with him, however, he became attached and they were then able to learn a lot about him.

She said milk snakes get their names from an old farmers tale stating that the snakes are found in barns because they like to drink the cow milk. But really, Alyssa said, they live in the barns infested by rodents, and they provide excellent pest control.

Neil started out at around 9 grams, and after feeding him pinky mice and taking care of him, he ended the quarter at 14 grams, showing his incredible growth. This quarter, Alyssa is taking care of Newton — though the students call him Slinky — a ball python.

“He’s the sweetest snake you’ll ever meet in your whole life,” she said. “There are over 400 different morphs of ball python, and he’s a classic morph.”

The students switch animals at the end of each quarter so they can continue to learn new things about different animals, and they can bond with more animals as well.

“You learn how to bond with an animal that you never thought you’d even meet … You learn how easy it is to love something even if when you first met them you were scared, but so were they,” she said.

DaVinci, the chameleon, was donated by the family of student Sierra Bailey, and she said she enjoys teaching the students about DaVinci when they get assigned to him. She said chameleons are very fragile creatures, and he’s also very lovable. They are originally from central Africa, and he eats meal worms and crickets, as well as cockroaches.

Student Breanna Mower said that when she was going through a rough time in her life, she found herself wanting to learn about bearded dragons as she has one at home, and it brought her a lot of happiness.

“Being able to go to school and continue learning about them and something I feel good about learning about has had a huge impact on my life,” she said. “I’ve been able to bond with these guys and Mr. Parson has been able to give me a really safe place to just be myself and learn about these guys.”

She said bearded dragons are one of the few species of lizards that people can bond with like a puppy. They can recognize their owners, show affection, and get stressed out if they’re away from their owners for too long.

The students said the animals encourage them to come to school every day because of the bonds they share, and because they are responsible for taking care of the animals. The jungle of animals is not only aiding the students in science lessons, as well as state standards, but they’re teaching the kids responsibility and empathy they said.

“Animals, even scaly ones like these, really help build emotional resilience in young people,” Parson said. “They teach responsibility, and I’m very, very proud of the work these guys and others have put into transforming our learning space into something that’s really special.”