Happy Hedgehog

Hagrid as a Baby

One new addition to this year’s summer academy is that Ms. Stephens is bringing her classroom pet, an African pygmy hedgehog named Hagrid, to school everyday to read and visit with the children.  When it was first announced that the hedgehog was here, many students assumed Ms. Stephens was talking about a toy hedgehog.  Nope, he’s real!

Ms. Stephens got Hagrid as a baby from a licensed breeder that specializes in well-socialized animals for children’s zoos and classrooms.  He will be two years old on September 26th and has spent most of his days traveling to school in a small cat crate and hanging out with kids.  A quiet animal by nature, Hagrid prefers to nap during the day when he isn’t snuggled up in a pouch listening to kids read.  His favorite snack is a mealworm, and he even has a “racetrack” with an exercise ball that he sometimes enjoys for safe recreation in the classroom.  During the night, he goes home with Ms. Stephens and her family and can be known to run up to five miles a night on his wheel. 

Hagrid’s main job during the summer is to motivate students as citizens of our program and as readers.  Each week, Ms. Stephens will draw five stars from the bucket to select good citizens that have been following our norms to read with Hagrid one day during their reading time with us.  Hagrid is also at school to help teach students about animals and their needs.   

Yesterday, he dropped in on a student who has been reading a book on insects and who would like to become a veterinarian one day.  Hagrid got to eat a mealworm and then snuggle up while Ms. Stephens answered thoughtful questions about his needs, habits, and health.  One happy hedgehog with one happy student!  
  
He is looking forward to meeting many more students during the course of the academy.