Fort Dorchester Elementary School’s mascot – the gator – may have been the only animal not present at the school on a recent fall afternoon.
A sheep, goat, pigeons, and rabbits were among the numerous animals that kindergartners had the opportunity to interact with at the school’s annual hoedown. The animals belong to local resident Paul Bennett, who taught the students about the animals and allowed them to pet and hold them as well.
Among the animals that most enamored the students were the pigeons, which performed somersaults at a blistering pace. Students marveled at the speed with which the pigeons tumbled backwards for hundreds of feet at a time.
Although the animals were situated a short walk from the school, children were driven to the makeshift petting zoo. They didn’t ride in cars or buses, however. Rather, they rode in a hay-filled truck bed.
Wearing cowboy hats, bandanas, overalls and plaid shirts, the students looked as if they’d be right at home on a farm. In the days leading up to the celebration, the children had been learning about many of the very animals that they were able to cradle and study thanks to Bennett.
When the kindergartners weren’t playing with the animals, they were inside of the school learning how to line dance. Classrooms were transformed into dance clubs as teachers taught students the steps.
For upwards of 30 years, Bennett has raised animals and taken them to schools, camps and churches free of charge. Midland Feed & Seed, of Summerville, supplied food to Bennett’s animals while at Fort Dorchester Elementary.
Bennett says he has “every kind of animal you could possibly think of” on his farm and that seeing children smile and enjoy themselves is his favorite part of introducing his animals to children.

Contact Michael Tannebaum at 873-9424 ext. 215 or mtannebaum@journalscene.com