Excitement among the children explodes when they're told they can spend time with a couple of the animals at the Rescue Ranch. Stacey Reavis, the facility's education director, reminds them to be quiet because noise scares the animals.
Once the children become silent, Titan, a bearded dragon, and Hershey, a Lionhead rabbit, are brought into the room. Reavis shows each animal to the children, talks about the food they eat, their habitats, their defense systems and the correct way to pet them. She also engages the children by asking questions about each animal.
"You guys have been talking about simple machines. Does [the rabbit] have any simple machines that are a part of him?" Reavis asks.
"No," many of the children respond in unison.
But then one child breaks from the norm and suggests the rabbit's legs.
"They're like levers, kind of," the child says.
"I can see that," responds Reavis, a certified teacher in North Carolina.
Reavis then channels the children's attention to the rabbit's claws. She says they're a simple machine because they're like a wedge, allowing him to stick them into the ground and dig.
That is just one lesson the two dozen children received this past September at Rescue Ranch. Founded in 2012 by Krissie Newman and her husband, NASCAR driver Ryan Newman, the ranch is located on 87 of 177 acres owned by the couple in rural North Carolina. The ranch is an outgrowth of the Ryan Newman Foundation, which had been involved in numerous animal welfare projects nationally. Inspired after attending a 2010 conference at the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, California, Krissie convinced Ryan they should centralize their efforts and create something similar. She viewed education as the key to making a difference in animal welfare.
"People are not getting to grow up exploring the outdoors, understanding conservation and understanding what it's like to be in the woods and all the different ecosystems," Krissie said. "We have kids come into our program who have never seen a live chicken or understand where their food is coming from.
"...Everything I do here I want to be education-focused.''
A haven for rescued animals
Rescue Ranch is located about an hour north of Charlotte in Statesville, North Carolina. Visitors are greeted by fenced property and a gate when they turn onto the road that takes them through a lush, well-manicured meadow.
About a quarter-mile from the highway sits the ranch's Humane Education Center. In individual pastures to the right of the building are five barns, three Holstein steers, six mini horses, a miniature donkey, 19 goats, a hair sheep and five potbellied pigs. To the left of the structure is the garden where food is raised for several of the animals.
Upon entering the 8,000-square-foot building, one is greeted by a large aquarium housing more than 100 fish, all of which are African cichlids, except for one suckerfish. The aquarium is the front of the information desk. In addition to classrooms and a small kitchen for the animals' food preparation, the building serves as the home for a spiny-tail lizard, five snakes, an iguana, chinchillas, hedgehogs, rabbits, lizards and parrots. All of the animals have been rescued. The coral corn snake was found dumped behind a Walmart in Mooresville, North Carolina. The Lionhead rabbit was once used by a children's photographer and was retired to the Rescue Ranch after becoming traumatized.
"We started bringing in animals that we had temperament-tested that we used with our class programs," Krissie said. "...We've got different rescue organizations that we've developed partnerships with. So we've become a resource. It's something this community desperately needs and I hope we can fill it."
The Rescue Ranch opened in 2013, and in its first year of operation slightly more than 1,000 children visited the facility, said marketing director EJ Lewick. The ranch is in its first full year with its education programs, and Lewick said attendance is expected to at least triple. During October, 600 children are scheduled to come through the education center, and that doesn't include those attending the ranch's weekend activities. Fall Fun Days are held each Saturday this month and include arts and crafts, a hayride, a scarecrow contest and a straw maze.
Krissie's involvement with the ranch on a day-to-day basis is extensive and she describes her presidency of the facility as a "many-different-hats role."
"I try and play a leadership role, but at the same time I believe in leading by example," she said. "I've taught classes, done animal presentations and taught Boy and Girl Scout troops. I've pretty much done everything from sweeping and mopping floors at the ranch to sitting in meetings talking to people, trying to get people to donate. I'll roll my sleeves up and get dirty, and then I'll speak to a Rotary Club to tell them what we're doing at the ranch."
Krissie's passion for animals began during her childhood long before she knew what she was doing. If she saw an animal she thought needed help or a home, she took care of it. She adopted her first dog, a puppy that would become known as Digger, when she was in college. Ryan is an animal lover, too. He's involved in conservation and the wildlife management and forestry side of the property. It's difficult for him to be there during the busy NASCAR season.
"Ryan will come over and help mow the grass and do little things here and there,'' Krissie said. "He works with the guys on making sure the fence line is where it's supposed to go. ... He might [make it] during the week a little bit for our school programs, but on the weekends he won't be able to be there."
Bringing kids and animals together
At the Rescue Ranch, children are removed from their typical classroom environments and provided with field trips and activities that teach them about the outdoors. Parents see the program making a difference.
Amber Lovette of Mocksville, North Carolina, said her 7-year-old son, Andrew, was a "very responsible boy" for his age. The Rescue Ranch increased his understanding of animals, she added, as well as his abilities in caring for them on their dairy goat farm. She cited the Rescue Ranch as providing a unique experience at an affordable price.
Fall Fun Days are $5 per person and the school programs are typically $7.50 per child. There are also Girl Scout and Boy Scout badge programs, with the fee based on the length of time an instructor is needed at the education center. Beginner Buddies are preschool classes designed for children ages 1 to 5. The classes involve storytelling, crafts and time with the animals.
Field trips are scheduled by individual teachers. Once the children arrive, they are broken into smaller groups, with a different animal presented to each group. Normally there's a reptile for one group, a furry critter for another and a barn animal for the third. Each group receives a designated time with each animal, and the information provided is linked to what the children are learning in school.
This summer there were day camps under the Critter Camp umbrella. The Art Adventure Camp focused on the environment and nature, while Life on the Ranch Camp saw children involved in daily animal care.
"They clean the enclosures, help prepare breakfast, deliver breakfast, and at the end of the day, they clean out bowls," Lewick said. "They get really hands-on care of the animals with supervision. It's to give them a better understanding of the commitment they must make if they're taking on an animal."
The third camp, Young Vet Camp, is designed for middle school students. An area in the education center is turned into a mock veterinary clinic, and kids are taught about dentistry, pharmacy and injections. A mock spay/neuter clinic is set up, with a stuffed animal used to teach about the procedure. Students also are taught about proper animal nutrition.
James Faccone, from Mooresville, North Carolina, said he thought the Rescue Ranch was a natural fit for his 11-year-old daughter, Emersen, who was interested in horses and the environment.
"She's home-schooled and we like to give her some experiences outside of just sitting at the kitchen table learning from a science book," Faccone said. "This is a more comprehensive experience in a different type setting, but with other home-schoolers."
He noted that Emersen, who has a dog-exercising business in their neighborhood, wasn't very outgoing but that she enjoyed coming to the Rescue Ranch.
Cade Combs, 7, said he enjoyed learning about animals and crafts. When asked which were his favorite animals, he replied the pigs because of the noises they make and because they're funny. He also said he had learned that his dog needs food, a safe home and good care.
Big hopes for the future
With the education center now functioning as Krissie envisioned, she has set her sights on a foster program the ranch hopes to implement in November. A memorial garden is also under development. Once those items are in place, a capital campaign will be developed for construction of an 8,000- to 10,000-square-foot adoption center that would contain a room for exotic animals and space for 25 dogs and 15 cats.
There is a possibility that the center will be enlarged to include a spay/neuter clinic or a boarding facility. Once the adoption center is operational, Krissie would like to add a 24-hour emergency veterinary clinic that would provide specialty care during normal business hours.
"At the same time, with my education goal in mind ... I would like to partner with Purdue University vet school and NC State and do extern programs," Krissie said. "There are not a lot of opportunities for vet students to get out and get their hours, so offering extern opportunities is definitely one of the programs we would like to do when the vet clinic opens."
Mitchell Community College agricultural students are taking over operation of the ranch's garden.
"We've built a lot of great community partners," Krissie said. "It's fun to see them utilizing us and how we can reciprocate and what everybody is getting out of the ranch. We've been really well received by the community and it's nice. It's nice to see that people are finally starting to understand what we do here and wanting to be a part of it."