Hands-on Course Leads to Humane Society Internship

Meghan Balderama (Liberal Studies, ‘18) first visited the Woods Humane Society during Liberal Studies 380, co-taught by Professor Anne Marie Bergen and Jamie Relth, the Humane Education Coordinator at Woods. In the class, liberal studies majors learned how to teach students at local elementary schools how to be safe and humane with animals, specifically dogs. 

Balderama recounts the experience in her own words:

I felt that taking this course would be a fun opportunity for me to combine two of my favorite interests: children and animals.

After training with Jamie during the majority of the quarter, we visited a couple of classrooms. We taught the students how we can help reduce the numbers of cats and dogs in shelters, how to safely meet a new dog, and how to read animal body language. We even got to take a dog from the shelter along with us during our visits, which the children all loved. During spring quarter, we had the opportunity to continue teaching lessons without needing to meet weekly for training.

I loved working with Jamie and having a role with the Woods Humane Society so much that I decided to spend my summer working for their Critter Camp. In this role I continued to combine my love for animals and children. It’s been awesome learning even more about Woods and the animals that are being sheltered there. It’s incredibly rewarding to see the children progress each week as they learn the importance of adopting animals in need of homes and how to treat all of the animals with compassion and care. 

The Woods Humane Society is such an amazing organization with so many sweet cats and dogs in need of a good home and an incredible staff who dedicate everything to help get them adopted. I am so grateful that I have been able to get involved with this organization through the Liberal Studies Department.