NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) – A vocational and agricultural high school in Northampton held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their new companion animal building on Tuesday.
Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School is where many students go to get hands-on experience and now they have a new space to enhance their learning experience with companion animals.
The Companion Animal Building is the newest addition to Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School in Northampton. This new building allows the school to expand its animal science program. With a growing student body, the superintendent of the school says having more space was essential to give students the learning experience that they deserve with companion animals.
“Having this building open up today is going to give the experience for some smaller animals so our dogs and our cats which is very popular here in the region,” says Superintendent Andrew Linkenhoker. “As you can imagine how many people have cats and dogs at home, our students can learn how to work with them now so it is a great opportunity for our students.”
It took two years to bring this building to reality. And it all came together with the help of the students.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees Michael Cahillane, told 22News, “Because we are a vocational school we have electrical, plumbing, carpentry, woodworking, we have everyone in the house that contributed to this where they were able to come in and do the wiring, all the electrical, carpentry, as well as putting the roof on and foundation.”
This new space has been the vision for the school since 2017. In the new building, students get hands-on experience with grooming all kinds of animals including cats and dogs. One student, Meiah Petruzzi, who is in the animal science program says she knew she wanted to work with animals from a young age, “It’s always been in my heart and dream to help animals. I want to explore with smaller animals because I want to become a vet so it is a nice opportunity to explore with the smaller animals.”
School officials say that the students are used to working with their livestock and large animals so working with companion animals will be a fun and new experience for them.
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