A high school teacher in Jacksonville, Florida devoted his life to teach his students real-world building structure skills while giving help to animals that are in desperate need for help.
For the last 14 years, the building construction teacher, Barry Stewart, taught his student much more than building construction skills, he has taught them how to have merciful hearts. He taught his students how to build houses for stray and needy dogs and cats.
“Under Mr. Stewart’s expert guidance, his classes construct, using the exact same methods one would use to build a human house, houses for dogs! And Mr. Stewart then very generously donates those houses to local organizations that can get them in the hands of members of the community that might not otherwise be able to provide their dogs with suitable housing,” explains Friends of Jacksonville Animals, Inc.
The animal welfare group works with the city's animal control officers to identify people in the neighborhood who need better houses for their dogs and then they arrange and deliver houses for them.
The group said, “These are dogs that very likely would be sleeping completely exposed to the elements if not for the progressive and generous thinking of Mr. Stewart.”
“The framing technique and terminology for pet housing is the same as for a regular house…The floor system, wall system, roof system and all the actual parts are identical,” Stewart explained to People Magazine. "So, every part we use on the pet houses we can reference to the correlating part in the home. I realized that it would be easy enough to work into what we were doing in the classroom. It was a good fit.”
“That experience taught students that there is actually a thought process behind most things…Even a really good idea can withstand some improvements,” said Stewart.
Stewart's class have built more than 600 dog houses and 110 feral cat houses. I'm so thankful for the inspirational teacher. Share this incredible story with your family and friends!
Photo credit: Friends of Jacksonville Animals, Inc.