Humane Education Division
The mission of the Schenectady County SPCA is to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout Schenectady County. The mission of the Humane Education Division is to aid in the realization of the organizational mission by providing relevant, quality materials, resources and programs for educators, students and parents.
Using our Humane Education Programs we:
1) Educate children and adults on the responsibilities necessary to ensure the welfare of companion animals and wildlife.
2) Share the opinions of animal and civil rights organizations in a non-threatening manner.
3) Encourage free thought and the development of personal values in regards to issues of importance within the field of humane education.
4) Have students act as ambassadors, sharing the need for humane treatment of animals with family and friends in the community.
This mission is accomplished through the teaching of humane education programs in schools and to community organizations. Programs provide students with non-bias information, the tools to form decisions, and the facts to encourage action. We recognize all forms of life as important and encourage individual decision making and action.
The rationale behind this mission is as follows…
If students are told what to think they all to often listen and agree. A students mind can then easily be changed by the words of another saying the opposite. However, when students are taught to think independently and form personal perspective, students develop solid values which become part of them. For this reason it is necessary to teach non-bias information and allow the facts to influence students the same way the facts have influenced thousands of volunteers to become involved in the cause of humane education.
Humane Education Programs rely entirely on the work of volunteers and donations. It is with great appreciation that we accept service and financial support from local schools and organizations.
"Never doubt that a small group of concerned citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead, American Anthropologist
Helping Teachers Help the World!
As part of our involvement in the scholastic world we strive to deliver information, provide models for rational thinking and decision making, and most importantly educate educators. Through the use of pre and post visit material and activities, a one day lesson can become the focal point for a much larger unit. We stand strong in our commitment to help teachers find new ways to reach students and have an ever increasing base of knowledge from which to draw.
It is with great enthusiasm that we provide teachers with information to better teach the humanities. Through conversations on teaching strategies, educational approaches, and lesson design, we aim to provide the teacher with an increased level of confidence and skill when teaching humane education. Our involvement as an educational resource is far more instrumental in improving the world than any lesson standing alone. It is with this drive to inform and educate that we ask you to become involved!
Lessons vary in length from 1 to 3 hours, and may be delivered to small (5-10 students), classroom (20-30 students), or auditorium (30+ students) sized groups.
"You cannot do a kindness too soon, because you never know how soon it will be too late." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Essayist and Philosopher
The head of our Humane Education Division is Kimberly Tully. Kimberly earned her M.S. in Special Education and Literacy from the University at Albany. She has had various experiences in the education field, including reading instruction at P.S. 19 in Albany, as a Special Education teacher at P.S. 12 in Troy, and most recently working with socially and economically disadvantaged preschool children and their families as a Special Educator in the Albany neighborhood of Arbor Hill.
After 9/11, Kimberly volunteered at the World Trade Center site working with rescue animals and providing general humane education under the command and control of the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer with the Schenectady County SPCA, please fill out the Volunteer Application below:
Click here to download the Schenectady SPCA Volunteer Application
P.O. Box 9516
Niskayuna, New York 12309
info@SchenectadySPCA.org
Schenectady County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
P.O. Box 9516
Niskayuna, New York 12309
info@SchenectadySPCA.org