Humane education classes teach Auburn elementary students about empathy, compassion | Education

Adessa, humane law enforcement officer with the Finger Lakes SPCA of Central New York, held humane education classes in three different classrooms at Herman Avenue Elementary School in Auburn, to emphasize the importance of empathy and compassion toward animals and people.

Helping Adessa was his wife, Martha King, a retired clinical therapist who volunteers with the SPCA. Each visit was set to follow the same structure, starting with Adessa explaining who he is and asking the students, by shows of hands, if they have a pet, and then asking each child their names and to talk about an experience they’ve had with a animal.

During the first humane education class, teacher Julie Tabone’s students often focused their gazes on what Adessa or King were saying, without students’ eyes frequently wandering at their surroundings. 

King told the students about an instance where she was walking her dog and they came across an alone, emaciated cat, who King said she had empathy for due to the feline’s condition. King said she took the feline and fed it cat food and gave it water, and the cat was later taken to a veterinarian.

“The vet said, ‘Within 12 hours, he would have been dead,'” King said, garnering responses of “Aww” from some adults and children in the room. “So that’s how important empathy is, and compassion.” The 12-year-old cat, now named Buster, lives with Adessa and King.

In between King telling that story, Adessa would enact role-play scenarios with the students. For example, a student read off a card Adessa gave them in which the student said they were sad about their cat dying, and Adessa asked students how they would feel for that other student, with the students saying they would feel said.

At one point, Adessa gave a card to Sophie Dautrich, 8, wherein the scenario said she was sad two months after her cat died. Adessa individually asked some students how they would show compassion to Sophie. After some students struggled to respond, one student said they would give Sophie a hug.

Toward the end of the first class, every student was given printed-out “compassion hearts,” as Adessa called them, in which each student was asked to write their name in the middle of. Adessa asked the children to write the names of animals in their households they care about or include specific kinds of animals, and to write down the names of people they care about. Sadie Davis-Shannon wrote down cats and dogs in her heart, but she also included ferrets and deer, among other creatures.   

After that class ended and Adessa and King went to the next classroom, Sophie said she enjoyed the class.

“I liked the compassion part, I liked that we talked about the kitty, because I really like animals,” she said. 

Tabone said all of the students at Herman participate in a program about dealing with emotions and interacting with others, and her class had talked about empathy and compassion about two weeks ago. She praised Adessa and King’s program.

Before the classes began, Adessa said he had previously held humane education classes and noted that Carol Russell, the executive director of the Finger Lakes SPCA, wanted to restart the classes. Adessa said he mentioned the humane education class idea in May to Lynn Stock, a counselor at Seward Elementary School. Stock liked the idea and told her principal, Adessa said, and he and King presented to Seward students later that month.

Adessa said he feels “compassion starts in class,” and believes that, considering recent events in the U.S. and across the world, it is critical to talk about the subjects of empathy and compassion. He discussed why he wanted to approach those concept with children.

“Being a father and grandfather gives me a good perspective. I read social media and I pay attention to current events. Our society has to degraded to one degree or another and we need to get back to basics of a kinder, wholesome society and teaching people how to be more compassionate, more empathetic and more sympathetic,” Adessa said. “We have to start with them at a younger age and it also starts with the baseline of how you treat an animal is indicative of how you’re going to treat a human being.”