COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL January 27, 2016
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A classroom ham!
A
fter 30 years of teaching, Ms. Patty
Wilson (Ms. Patty) wanted an ex-
tra special classroom pet for her special
education students. “In the past my class-
rooms have had fi sh, rabbits, and a cat,” said
Ms. Patty. “I searched for a mini-pig and
discovered that most people selling them
didn’t have background breed information
or a clear direction on how to care for the
animal, or they appeared to be getting rid of
an unwanted animal.”
Ms. Patty was waiting for the perfect pig!
Not just any pig would do! Then she saw an
ad from “Sharp’s Little Pig Town”.
“Their pigs were neutered, box trained,
and socialized,” said Ms. Patty. “They cared
about their animals and were available for
additional support and questions. I had
cats, dogs and horses growing up and cur-
rently live on a farm where we raise Black
Angus Cattle, but I was unfamiliar with
little pigs, so support while raising one was
welcome.”
Ms. Patty double-checked with Bohemia
Elementary School’s administrators about
having a classroom pig before adopting
Hampton. The breeders felt that Hampton
would be a good match for the P.C.H. (Pat-
ty’s Classroom Helper) job of de-escalat-
ing frustrated students or calming students
struggling with behavioral expectations.
Hampton’s job description also was to be
the honored recipient (incentive) for stu-
dents to earn prized “pig time”.
During the school year, Hampton accom-
panies Ms. Patty to her classroom, where
he has a home-away-from-home area. His
“playpen” has a bed, food and water, toys
and a litter box fi lled with paper pellets
from the farm store. And yes, he does use
his litter box, just like a cat or rabbit!
“Hampton was not named when I adopted
him,” said Ms. Patty, “and on my drive to
work, I heard the name ‘Hampton’ on the
radio, which fi ts him perfectly.”
Hampton is mellow in the mornings and
rides to school in a pet carrier grunting soft-
ly or sleeping. On their way home, he rides
quietly for the fi rst 10 minutes and then
loudly squeals the remainder of the way.
He knows it is dinnertime and he loves eat-
ing! He is defi nitely a ‘pig of routine’ who
prefers that you stick to ‘his’ schedule! If
his food does not arrive at what he thinks
is the designated time, he lets you know by
loudly squealing his demands.
“Both male and female students equally
enjoy Hampton.” said Ms. Patty. “They
compliment him by calling him ‘handsome’
or ‘cute’. Some children have asked, ‘Does
he have gel in his hair?’ and ‘Why isn’t his
tail curly?’. One of my third graders, Sarai,
said, ‘He squeaks cute and has a cute nose.’
Richard said, ’I like how Hampton squeaks
loud, and the way he eats.’ And O’Shea said,
‘I like it when he puts his nose under your
arm, and the way he gets dressed up. Hamp-
ton is like the pig on Charlotte’s Web, but he
doesn’t talk.’
Hampton has warmed up to our class,
other teachers and the administrators. Ini-
tially he squealed around everyone, but now
is he more comfortable and gently grunts
and squeaks. The children have learned
that like any pet, when you approach them
slowly the animal is more receptive to be-
ing petted.
While class is in session, Hampton wan-
ders the room. The children give him a quick
‘Hello’, scratch or pet, then immediately re-
turn to participating in class. He responds
by wagging his little tail, grunting or squeal-
ing (which sounds like a dog’s squeaky toy).
He is a comfort, not a distraction, and has
risen to meet all his job challenges.
Hampton is intuitive with children! When
some students do something “unexpected,”
or another teacher sends them to my class for
a break, we have discovered that the child
is acting out because they are sad or frus-
trated. When they ‘hang out’ with Hampton
(to redirect frustrations or to de-escalate
emotions) they relax and calm down with
his full attention. Some students are even
motivated to earn ‘pig time’ for excellent
behavior.”
During Ms. Patty’s breaks, Hampton has
outdoor recess “play time” where he runs
and plays to stretch his short legs.
Down the hallway from Hampton’s class-
room is Mrs. Stevens’ classroom. She has
collected toy pigs for 25 years. Her class is
referred to as the “Pig Pen”. However, Mrs.
S. never thought to adopt a ‘real’ pig.
“My students agree that ‘Ms. Patty’s Pig’
Photo by Mary Ellen “Angel Scribe”
Osberto Pablo-Mendoza and Nery
Perez Ramirez love their class’s
baby pet pig, Hampton, who weighs
12 pounds and will top out at 30
pounds.
motivates them to come to school. They just
can’t wait to see Hampton! They’ve said
that ‘having a pig helps them learn how to
care for others (animals), and to be gentle
and kind’. Which is what we aim to teach.
Hampton has no worries that I might “Pig-
nap” him to add to my Pig Pen collection,
everyone knows that he loves his ‘job’ and
Ms. Patty!”
TIPS
“Hampton still has a thing or two to learn
at school,” writes Randy Peyser, author of
“The Power of Miracle Thinking”, “Last
year, I met a pet pig, Hamlet, being walked
on a leash!”
Share your pet tips and tales.
angelscribe@msn.com
“Follow” Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/PetTipsand-
Tales
Adopt Loving Pets
www.PetFinder.com
Humane Society for Neuter/Spay Assis-
tance Program. (541) 942-2789
Call 541-942-4493 for info.
FOR EMERGENCY DIAL 911
R OBERTS
South Lane County Fire & Rescue
@southlanefi re
Continued from page 1A
www.southlanefi re.org
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541-942-8022 • COTTAGE GROVE
diffi cult choice they faced. In
fact, the worksession came and
went without clear direction on
which of the four candidates the
Council would choose to ap-
point.
As a large crowd fi led in at
the start of the regular meeting,
the Council discussed how they
might narrow down their op-
tions, including what to do in
the event of a tie vote, though
a few minutes later, Councilor
Jake Boone made a motion to
appoint Kenneth Michael Rob-
erts. The motion received a sec-
ond, and Roberts quickly found
himself being sworn in by City
Attorney Carrie Connelly.
Roberts, the KNND radio per-
sonality and former Army Corps
of Engineers employee, joined
20-year old student Henry Lan-
caster, former Coast Fork Willa-
mette Watershed Council Direc-
tor Pam Reber and IT consultant
Greg Ervin in seeking appoint-
ment for the remaining year of
a four-year term that Murphy
could not complete, citing work
and family commitments. Each
candidate answered a slew of 14
questions in a 15-minute inter-
view, questions designed to help
discover what they felt were the
roles of the City Council and
the councilors who serve on it,
in addition to the challenges the
City faces now and in the fu-
ture.
Councilor Mike Fleck ap-
plauded the interviewees for
showcasing “more knowledge
than we typically see” from po-
tential appointees to the Coun-
cil. Boone said he could po-
tentially serve with any of the
candidates, though he added
that Roberts had “stormed the
interview.”
Perhaps a passion for the po-
sition led the Council to lean
Roberts’ direction.
“I feel this is my destiny,” he
had said. “I want to serve. I want
to be involved.”
Roberts listed activities with
the altar society at his church
among his community activi-
ties, in addition to involvement
with the Concerts in the Park
series and KNND. He cited an
outstanding school system and
tourism opportunities among
Cottage Grove’s strengths and
the repair of important city in-
frastructure as an ongoing chal-
lenge. Roberts called himself a
“public person” who has brushed
up on the issues while covering
Council meetings for KNND for
the last year and a half. He would
get his fi rst chance to weigh in
on Council deliberations early
on in Monday’s meeting, speak-
ing and later voting in favor of
the City’s purchase of a mobile
camera that will be used to show
city employees the inside of the
City’s sewer system.
After the appointment, Coun-
cilor Boone addressed the other
candidates, speaking of a year
that will see three Council seats
and the Mayor’s seat up for elec-
tion in the fall.
“2016 is an election year,”
Boone said. “By all means,
run.”
there are ingenious marketing
strategies including discounts,
fl avored products, packaging
that appeals to young people
and strategic ad placement,” he
said.
The amended county ordi-
nance, Leutke said, specifi es
that the $200 fee charged for a
license can only be used to ad-
minister the licensing program.
Penalties for selling tobacco
products to minors were also
added for the employee in addi-
tion to the business owner. Four
such violations in a two-year
period would result in the revo-
cation of the sales license.
At the November meeting,
Councilor Jake Boone pre-
sented information that he said
showcased that many of the
functions the County’s program
proposed to handle were already
the work of the state of Oregon.
After presenting the informa-
tion, the issue was tabled to al-
low the Council to review it, and
the issue was tabled again at the
Council’s Jan. 11 meeting due to
the absence of two councilors.
City Manager Richard Mey-
ers put forth two versions of
the proposed ordinance, and the
Council eventually chose the
version that exempted parapher-
nalia sold in medical marijuana
dispensaries from potential pen-
alties and did not charge a $200
licensing fee for local retailers.
Meyers said he felt the Cottage
Grove Police Department could
take on certain aspects of the
monitoring of local retailers,
including decoy operations to
determine which retailers may
be selling tobacco to minors.
Councilor Mike Fleck said that
he had proposed eliminating the
fee prior to the meeting.
“I spoke to several local busi-
ness owners, and they were
in favor of the ordinance,” he
said. “The fee was their only
heartburn. The money it raised
was negligible, but its (the pro-
gram’s) impact could be sub-
stantial.”
Several citizens, including
many offi cials with South Lane
School District, voiced support
for the tobacco licensing pro-
gram, many citing personal ex-
periences with the devastation
caused by long-term tobacco
use. Dr. Jim Harrison said he’s
been urging patients to quit for
30 years, though he said that
the most effective deterrents to
tobacco use had been increas-
ing its cost, decreasing access
to products and decreasing the
modeling of such behavior in
the community.
“With this program, you have
a chance to be more effective
than doctors and nurses can be
in reducing the damage caused
by smoking,” Harrison said.
Lincoln Middle School Prin-
cipal Jeremy Smith also voiced
support for the ordinance.
“I encourage you to adopt this
program to create licensing and
sale regulations,” he said. “To-
day’s kids are living in a world
where they’re much more savvy,
more independent, more ready
to experiment than ever before.
This is important to kids right
here in our community.”
Councilor Jake Boone was
the lone voice to speak — and
later vote — in opposition to the
ordinance.
“I’m not convinced that the
problem is going to be helped
by this ordinance,” Boone said.
“Evidence that the County cites
showed that kids by and large
are not getting tobacco from re-
tailers. They’re getting it from
family, from other kids who get
it from their family members.
The vast majority of input on
whether teens start using tobac-
co is coming from their friends
and family modeling that behav-
ior. Smoking is bad, but I don’t
think this is a tool that’s actually
going to make that happen (de-
crease tobacco use.) This ordi-
nance is bad. It’s less bad than
it was, but I can’t in good con-
science support it.”
Thus the licensing program,
minus the licensing fee, passed
by a 6-1 vote. As per the Coun-
cil’s rules, the ordinance will be
considered again for fi nal pas-
sage at a subsequent Council
meeting.
T OBACCO
Continued from page 1A
Health Offi cer Dr. Patrick
Leudtke touted the program
as a way to curb tobacco use
among young people. Luedtke
said that licensing can help de-
crease the initiation of youth to
tobacco use, of interest because
data shows that use among area
11th-graders increased for sev-
en of eight varieties of tobacco
products in 2014.
“Kids tend to frequently stop
in convenience stores, where
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