“Teacher’s Pets”

The teacher’s pets of Francis W. Parker School

Teachers+Pets+collage.

Photo credit: Jacob Boxerman

“Teacher’s Pets” collage.

 

In an effort to bring us together during Remote Learning, the Weekly Online asked teachers in the Upper School to send us photos of their furry friends. Here they are! But wait, before looking, take this quiz to try and match the pet to the teacher!

Navigate the gallery forwards and backwards using the arrows. For a fullscreen view of the slideshow, click on the image.

All pet photos courtesy of their human friends.

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  • Zoey the dog. “Zoey is originally from Arizona, loves chasing squirrels, and shares my love of peanut butter!” – Kim Alligood

  • Keats the dog. “Keats is a super smart guy, and quite the ham. He loves treats of all kinds, but really loves chicken, and my homemade pizza crust and bagels. He is really the one in charge around here.” – John Iaconianni, Upper School science teacher

  • Art teacher Katie Palmer’s cat Rhonda. “She seems to be part raccoon, I caught her eating an Oreo once, and she is obsessed with the sink.”

  • Rhonda again, just for good measure.

  • Dexter the dog. “Dexter’s favorite activity is to chase leaves. It makes walks on windy days very interesting.” —Physical Education teacher Tyler Heidtke.

  • Chewbacca the rabbit. “Chewbacca’s favorite activities are destroying old tissue boxes and flopping when she’s tired from destroying old tissue boxes. She also enjoys being petted and radicchio, in that order.” —Sven Carlsson

  • Computer programming teacher Brianna Ifft’s cat, Forrest. “Forrest loves to chat with his cat cousin Ainsley over Google Meet (see one of the attached photos), and loves to be wherever mom is! He is always all up in my business–probably the nosiest cat I’ve ever met… but I love it.” —Brianna Ifft

  • Forrest talking to his cousin Ainsley.

  • Bam Bam the dog. “Bam Bam loves to snack on pieces of cheese, run free in Oz Park with his puppy pals and riding in a bike basket to catch a bit of wind.” —Elizabeth Druger, science teacher.

  • And here’s Ruby. “Ruby loves getting into everything (like sidewalk chalk), snuggling, playing with other dogs, and eating ice cream!” —Cory Zeller, english teacher

  • Ruby with her sibilings.

  • Doggy duo Delaney and Delilah. “Like night and day, right and left, up and down, these two are opposites. Delaney is calm and loves getting pets, cuddles, and chewing on sticks. Delilah is high energy and anxiety and often finds herself in trouble. She loves to play fetch, tug-o-war, and likes to be close to but not touching you.” —Ryan Zaremba, science teacher

  • Cindy Marker’s dog Lotte. “Lotte loves hanging out on the balcony and interrupting Zoom calls to request her favorite treats!” —Cindy Marker, French teacher

  • “Nib, may she rest in peace.” — History teacher Jeanne Barr’s cat Nib. — “In July, we lost Nib, our Silver Siberian, to lymphoma — she was the most wonderful cat and only four years old, and we were all devastated by her passing.” (cont.d on next slide)

  • 11-weak-old Shichon Eleanor Roosevelt. (cont.d) “In our grief, we ended up driving to Pennsylvania Dutch country to get Ellie, the puppy, from Amish farmers — it was 11-hours each way, but grief does crazy things to you, and it seemed entirely reasonable at the time to drive to the East Coast for a dog in the middle of pandemic. Jeter is not overly thrilled with the situation, but he’s handling it well — she’s dying to play with him and he’s not into her (yet), so he takes the high ground and swats at her from above.” (cont.d on next slide)

  • 11-year-old Siberian cat Jeter. (cont.d) “We’re getting another Siberian in November — we’re on a list with our breeder, and though we hoped for another Silver like Nib, the wait is too long, so we’re getting a Blue, which is pretty cool too (Google “Blue Siberian Cat” and you’ll see what I’m talking about — gorgeous!). We have guilt over not rescuing strays, but because of allergies in our house, we go the purebred route to get breeds known to be hypoallergenic, and it’s worth it for how awesome they are.” —Jeanne Barr

  • Stu Greenspan’s cat Amelie. Photograph titled: “Administrative assistant.”

  • Jazz cat part two. This one is titled “Zoom Cat.”

  • Science teacher Kara Schupp’s dog Lexi Lou. — “The pictures show that she never wants to be left behind. She is always ready for an adventure and often climbs in the puppy backpack or carrier so as to partake on the bike ride or day in the park watching soccer. She is also VERY cuddly! Always ready to settle in on my lap.”

  • Double ‘L’ part two.

  • Art teacher Kay Silva’s dog Tini. “Her name ‘Tini’ is short for ‘quarantine’ but also she is super tiny! She’s a miniature Schnoodle.”

  • Music teacher Kingsley Tang’s dog Buffy. File titled “Buf.” No caption. ‘Ruff said.

  • Another dynamic duo, music teacher Alec Synakowski’s cats Hopper and Seamus (pronounced: SHAME-us). Legend says they have mastered Spanish guitar and classical piano. “I have them trained to do tricks, like shake, come here, and other fun stuff.” —Alec Synakowski

  • Last, and the smallest pet on our list, but certainly not the least, Head of the Upper School Justin Brandon’s fish “Rose Abby Addison and Fishy (multiple names for one fish)”. — “She likes very small pieces of shrimp. She likes to swim in and around the castle. She likes swimming to the surface in search of food.” — Justin Brandon

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