Students introduce ‘dragon’ to Cranberry supervisors
CRANBERRY TWP — A “tiny dragon” visited the township supervisors’ meeting Thursday evening.
Around 20 students from Rowan Elementary School’s PURPOSE program came to the meeting dressed in T-shirts that said “Tiny Dragon Keeper.” After leading the Pledge of Allegiance and singing a short, patriotic song, their teacher, Rebecca Hester explained the uniform.
“We have a tiny dragon in our classroom,” Hester said, “and we brought her with us today.”
Hester revealed a small, tan gecko.
“Her name is Penelope,” Hester said.
Penelope made her home in Hester’s PURPOSE classes just this year.
“She was a rescue animal,” said Rowan student Phoebe Komlos. “We had a fundraiser to provide her with a cage large enough to climb.”
Fellow student Zoe Moldovan explained that the class did research and drew pictures to learn what kind of habitat Penelope would need.
Just two weeks ago, Penelope won Cranberry Township’s fourth annual Spooktacular Pet Costume Contest.
Supervisor Mike Manipole saw this as an opportunity to reach out to Hester and her class; Hester saw this as a great addition to their unit on civic duty.
Each student left the meeting with a certificate of appreciation from the township.
"We hope that some of your children come back and lead the community," Manipole said. “We always want to make this a place for families.”
