FRED BLOCHER/The Kansas City Star Weighing a squirmy pup can be difficult. But teacher Chris Renault, with help from third-graders Melad Hajeh (upper right) and Jasmine Velazquez, got the job done Monday at Highland Park Elementary School in Lee’s Summit.

THE DOG IS MY HOMEWORK

Rescued puppies provide lessons in life — and other subjects

By MIKE SHERRY

The Kansas City Star

Forget the math problems and the spelling bees.

Some Lee’s Summit students are getting lessons with a little more bite thanks to a couple of black puppies saved a few weeks ago from a freezing abandoned car.

The canine coursework comes courtesy of Chris Renault, who teaches English as a second language at Highland Park Elementary School.

Monday morning, Renault steadied Durango as students measured him from his nostrils to the tip of his tail.

They then stretched the silver ribbon they were using along a yardstick.

“So, he’s 16½ (inches)?” Renault asked. “Should we round up to 17?”

“Yeahhhhh,” the students replied.

“OK, 17.”

Calypso came in about an inch shorter.

Each dog weighed nearly 2 pounds, thanks to a bottle-feeding regimen that supplies puppy formula every two to four hours.

Renault and her husband handle the overnight duties at home. Students like 9-year-old Sady Lozano, a native of Colombia, feed the puppies during the school day.

Monday morning Sady sat cross-legged on the floor. He cupped Calypso’s head in his left hand, a bottle in his right.

“Dang, he’s drinking fast!” Sady said. “C’mon drink!”

Renault’s lesson plan went to the dogs in mid-January shortly after one of her colleagues, Toni Bauer, sent out a mass e-mail seeking help caring for the puppies.

A physical therapist assistant with the Lee’s Summit district, Bauer heard about the puppies through her work with Midwest Animal Res-Q.

Renault, who was named the district’s top teacher this year, sensed a learning opportunity for roughly 50 children.

“The whole thing — it just kind of evolved, just kind of happened,” she said.

So now A Dog’s Best Friend and Five True Dog Stories are among the classroom reading materials.

And the dogs have romped into writing assignments, such as this one from a second-grade Russian boy:

“We have two puppies in our classroom. They are cute and growing every day. They will be adopted just like me.”