Tag Archives: Junior Fotas

Job Shadow Day at the Shelter with Logan Heath

One of my favorite programs offered within the Aiken County School System is Job Shadow Day. Students are encouraged to follow an adult at work to learn first-hand what they do each day. This was the first year that a local student asked to shadow me at the Aiken County Animal Shelter (ACAS). I was […]

Educating Local Students Is Key to Helping Homeless Pets

I am constantly blown away by the kindness of young people in our community, especially during the holiday season. Local students care deeply about the homeless animals at the Aiken County Animal Shelter (ACAS) and are eager to learn all they can to help them. South Aiken Baptist students bring toys at Christmas South Aiken […]

Animal Control Officers: Friends, not Dog Catchers

by Kathy Jacobs, FOTAS Program Director I often go to area schools to talk to students about responsible pet ownership and proper animal care. When we talk about how animals come into the Aiken County Animal Shelter, I tell the students that animal control officers as well as members of our community rescue and bring […]

Junior FOTAS Students Prove our Future Looks Good

Last year, a new after school program called Junior FOTAS was started by students at Tall Pines STEM Academy. Two teachers assist the students, including their language arts teacher, Mrs. Busby, who is passionate about helping shelter pets and a FOTAS volunteer, and their math teacher, Mrs. Mastromonico, who’s adopted pets from the shelter and […]

Nine-year-old Aiken boy raises more than $400 for shelter’s heartworm positive dogs

Alex Mastromonico is on a mission to help the homeless animals at the Aiken County Animal Shelter (ACAS). The nine-year-old heard about FOTAS’s “Have a Heart, Save a Heart” program, a fund which supplements the treatment of heartworm positive dogs at the shelter, and decided he wanted to pitch in to this life-saving effort. With […]