During the week before spring break, Mrs. Donaldson welcomed class pets into her classroom: two frogs and chicken eggs. Her first period Biology class put together a cage for the frogs and put the eggs in an incubator for hatching. Then, unexpectedly, another new friend, a tiger salamander joined the class right after that!

I’m here to introduce the very special frogs named Michigan J. Frog and Maryland J. Frog. Michigan is the smaller frog and Maryland is the bigger frog, which is due to males being usually smaller than females. Ms. Powers took care of them and she taught them The Michigan Rag from Looney Tunes, who Michigan is named after. They are very talented dancers and get stage fright easily, but are very talented. They enjoy eating crickets and jumping around. It is really entertaining to give them food and to see the frogs jump around and catch them and eat them! People could really just stay hours and watch them doing their stuff, which is just usually jumping around, or staying stagnant in place.

Mrs. Donaldson said that she likes the frogs and chickens and hoped that a lot would hatch. She also doesn’t have the ability to take care of the chicks and they will be given back to Daniela once the time comes.

Ms. Power’s opinion about the class pets is that she loves them. I asked her if she loved training the frogs the Michigan Rag. She excitedly nodded her head, the frogs seem to have loved it too!

Though to be clear, Donaldson asks, (and it’s more of a demand), that you do not touch the frogs. Frogs are amphibians and respirate through their skin and the grease and oils on your skin can mess up the system for the frogs to breathe, and we don’t want to mess up anything with the frogs. See with your eyes and not your hands!

Another new class pet are the 12 eggs that were gifted to Donaldson for hatching by Daniela Fernández. After their arrival, they were put in the incubator and they are being kept at around 99 Fahrenheit and 50 percent humidity. These are perfect conditions for the eggs to hatch.

During the State Science Fair in College Station, when Mrs. Donaldson was traveling and when the eggs were expected to hatch, Mateo took the eggs & incubator home. After talking with Mateo, he has confirmed some are hatching and are doing well. He says he doesn’t want to bring the eggs to school until they are all finished hatching, or the ones that will hatch.

Zoey Salgado, a classmate that hatched eggs with me in 3rd grade with Mrs. Enríquez has an opinion about the eggs. We both agreed third grade was a nice time and Wonder (the name of our chicken) was an amazing class pet. (Even if it poo-ed on the hands of us 8-9 year olds.) The name “Wonder” originated from the book “Wonder”, which was a really good book.

Finally, there’s Bumble Bee, the new salamander Donaldson has now. MISD students found Bumble Bee in the sand-pit while setting up for the track meet. Bumble Bee has found a new home in a tank watching the class and seeing what they’re doing. He likes hanging out in the water while keeping his head above water. He’s really cute! The name Bumble Bee originated since he is yellow and black, just like a bee.

With the new class pets, a lot of high schoolers are attracted to them like magnets. A lot of people are hoping for a lot of eggs to hatch and to see the chicks grow. I’m hoping everything goes well for them and they hatch well. In the meantime, it brings great energy to Mrs. Donaldson’s room to watch the frogs and salamander in their cool terrariums.

The Marfa Shorthorn Newsletter

Prom By Itzel and Ms. Powers

One Act By Belen and Zoey

New Class Pets By Flavio

Spring Break Recap By Dariela and Giselle

Kiko is headed state vase By Janayah

Yearbook By Samantha

Little dribblers and the art of coaching By Darren and Ayven

Track By Austin

Science Fair By Messiah and Isaiah