A snake, an axolotl, a tortoise and fish are not typical high school class members, but in science teacher Lori Mott’s classroom, they are used to bring her passion for science and animals together. 

Mott has been teaching Biology and Anatomy and Physiology for over 15 years and strives to have animals in her class to help with the learning process. Some of the animals include Sally, her orange and sand-colored snake; Georgia, her axolotl consisting of dark colors and feathery gills; Frank, her small and shy light brown tortoise; and several fish. 

Mott transfers her passions to her students through her love for animals and her job. 

“Whatever subject you teach, I think it’s important to bring the passion you have for the subject into the classroom,” Mott said. “I think that makes kids want to learn more if they see that you are really passionate about a particular topic.”

Her animals also help students connect with each other. Mott encourages students to interact with all of her pets, especially Frank the tortoise and Sally the snake, which leads to more opportunities for connections as a class.

“[The animals] allow a lot more social interaction with my students,” Mott said. “They are just really curious about where everything came from. To see two different kids, completely different kids, that are standing next to each other waiting to take turns to hold the tortoise and having to talk to each other I think is a really good skill.” 

Mott and other teachers use her animals to motivate students. In some classes, she created a schedule allowing students to spend time with Sally the snake once a week if they complete their other work. 

“I have had other teachers use my pets as reward time for certain students when they have done things well in their classes and have been rewarded and come and visit, so that’s kind of cool,” Mott said.

Mott’s animals also offer an educational purpose as they can be used to illustrate topics her students are learning in class. She often uses her axolotl, Georgia, to demonstrate how processes like extinction occur.

“The axolotl is extinct in the wild,” Mott said. “We are talking about biodiversity right now and ecology with one of my classes, and because the population got small and isolated into two lakes, and one lake dried up and the other was polluted, they all died. That’s it, so now they are only in captivity.”

One of Mott’s students, freshman Hazel Pagliuca, does not like axolotls as much as other students. 

“I think [axolotls] are cool, but they look a little weird compared to fish and other animals,” Pagliuca said. 

However, she did agree with Mott that all the animals help her learn. 

“I think [the animals] give a good example of the things we learn in class and help correspond to the learning we do,” Pagliuca said. 

Before Mott even starts introducing her students to the animals, she always makes sure everyone is comfortable with them. At the beginning of the year, she has all of her students take a survey to see if they are okay with creatures in the classroom. 

“I always want to be respectful of students and make sure that everybody is okay with that before I bring them in,” Mott said.

Mott has found that once nervous students get over their initial shock, they feel a sense of accomplishment for conquering their earlier fear of exotic creatures. 

“Kids that might otherwise be really afraid of snakes actually [are not as scared of Sally],”Mott said. “Usually everybody is okay as long as it’s not near them.” 

There are many benefits to having creatures in Mott’s classroom, but they add to her workload. Mott pays out of pocket to keep her animals healthy and clean and takes her own vacation time to come in to feed all of her animals. 

Some years, Mott lets her students take home an animal for the break to take care of. Pagliuca, however, would rather not take care of the animals out of school.

“I just like visiting them in the classroom,” Pagliuca said. “It would be a bigger responsibility to take care of them.”

As Mott is always willing to grow her population of animals in school and at home, she hopes to add a new furry friend to her family soon. Currently, Mott has rabbits at home and would prefer to take in an animal that is in need of a home and might need help.

“I have been looking, with all the hurricanes, and I know there will be a bunch of displaced dogs, so maybe it’s time to get another one,” Mott said.