Composition class uses ‘sad dogs’, persuasive language to encourage donations
By: Tania Robin
Staff Writer
Students from Rebecca Winter’s English composition class had a “ruff” time coming up with a local charity.
During a majority of the month of November, Winter instructed her students to come up with ideas to generate donations using persuasive language skills. The first order of business was selecting a charity, and Winter’s two classes both voted to help the Humane Society of Missouri.
According to students in the class, they went with the Humane Society because dogs can’t speak for themselves.
“Sometimes the owners can’t take care of their dogs and [they] end up in bad situations,” said student Crystal Kohn. “These dogs deserve a good life! This was why I chose Humane Society.”
Student Collin Orlando had a more personal reason for the choice: his “deep connection” with his dog.
“A few years ago I adopted a stray,” said Orlando. “I am her therapy person and she’s my therapy dog. That’s my best buddy right there!”
Students from both classes created flyers to put up around campus to generate interest. Some had sad dogs on them to lure people in to read the poster. Others had goofy phrases, and some were very detailed in order to inspire sadness in the reader in hopes that they would feel the need to get involved.
Accompanying the flyers were boxes where donations were collected in the form of items needed by the Humane Society. Items included towels, washcloths, blankets, paper towels, collars, leashes, food and water bowls, toys, food, dog treats and dryer sheets.
According to students, the donation drive was a huge success. Many boxes around campus were full or close to full before collection day. To tie the project back to class, students wrote papers about their experience using creative ideas to engage with the school and spread information.
The drive ended officially on Nov. 21. According to Winter, over 260 items were collected, along with several boxes of old newspapers donated by The Montage.
Many students, like Ben Hardin, were proud of their achievements but urged others to continue their work.
“People tend to forget about pets during the Holidays,” said Hardin. “I don’t feel like there are enough donation drives for pets…We need to support the dogs who need help for a better future.”
