Friends of our Faculty

Many faculty members at The MacDuffie School are also pet owners, with animal companions ranging from fish to dogs to hamsters.  In order to get to know our teachers and their furry friends better, several interviews were conducted with both the humans and their four-legged or gilled buddies!  

Ed Gray, Director of Information Technology, has two dogs named Kinko (age 4) and Buddy (age 3).  Buddy is a black lab mix and Kinko is a Wheaton-Airedale terrier mix.  These two “wonderful companions” have been living with Gray and his family since March 2013 (Buddy) and September 2012 (Kinko).  Gray says they may come and visit school again,  “but if they don’t  it’s because they can be a bit of a handful.  They are still young dogs and they have a lot of energy,” he says.  Both dogs were rescued from the southern United States: Buddy from the American Lab Rescue and Kinko from the Southern Jewel Dog Rescue.  They have many brothers and sisters in need of adoption as well, so if you’re interested in loveable dogs you can visit this (or other) websites: http://www.southernjeweldogrescue.com/.  Finally, when asked how they like it here, Kinko and Buddy replied with an enthusiastic “Pant pant whimper growl pant,” translating to “We love it wherever there are people to love us!”

Karen Anderson, science teacher, brought in her dog Angus, who will be 6 years old on March 25th.  Angus was only a puppy when he survived the tornado at 1 Ames Hill Drive, a little under five years ago.  Anderson was at a doctor’s appointment when the tornado came through MacDuffie’s old campus.  She was unable to reach Angus as she was temporarily detained in the MassMutual Center.  Upon returning to the school the next day, she was alarmed to not find Angus in his crate where she had left him.  Instead, a social worker had taken him to her house for safe-keeping until Anderson came home.  He was unharmed and “had enjoyed his sleepover,” she said.  On the old campus, Angus would spend time with people and explore everywhere, and “there were lots of other dogs on campus that he could play with.”  He would often go on walks and loved to hunt squirrels.  In particular, he misses Craig Woolley, former Science Department Chair, who was his close friend.  Angus doesn’t get to visit much anymore because he lives a long way away from the school, but he loves spending time with people.  “Whimper Whimper Bark!”  said Angus, ruff-ly translating to “I like it here a lot!”   

Jena McNerney, RA and art teacher, is the proud new owner of her pet fish Elliot.  “He was born on a sunny day in October, 2015” says an enthusiastic McNerney. When she bought him, “It was a Friday in January, the sun was shining and the day had just begun.  Dave’s Soda & Pet City had just opened.  He was in a bowl on a shelf.  It was a small bowl.  He had many fish siblings sitting beside him.  The bowls were way too small, I wanted to save them all.  But I don’t have enough shelves in my apartment, and Ms. K and Mr. Lorenzen said no.  He swam to me and thrashed around his bowl, almost to say: Pick me!  So I did.  They tossed him in a bag and I picked out his amenities and this bowl so he could swim around in circles.  Now he is mine.”  Elliot greets McNerney every morning with a wag of his tail and the occasional sneeze.  He reportedly thrashes around in his bowl much more often now that he has moved out of the pet store.  “Click click click Glub glub” said Elliot, meaning “I love it here very much!  Now feed me, Mom.”

Joan O’Brien, History Teacher and Department Chair, is the proud owner of her 11-12 year old golden retriever Sally.  O’Brien has had Sally, who was somewhere around two when she was adopted, for about ten years now.  She had been living with a foster family in Holyoke when Director of Boarding Admission Susan Clayton, who is now considered Sally’s godmother, told O’Brien about her.  When Sally was found, she had been wandering Alabama for a few months and had probably survived a hurricane because of the scars on her body.  She could have been intentionally or unintentionally abandoned because when adopted, she knew how to calmly walk on a leash and was well-trained.  “Somebody in Alabama lost a really sweet dog,”  said a grateful O’Brien.  “When I first got [Sally] she used to come [to school] every day because I was Upper School Head and I had an office.”  Now it is difficult to bring her in as much, because many of the students and teachers are afraid of dogs, and Sally is getting older so it is hard for her to be alone all day.  “There is research that shows that dogs lower people’s stress levels.  I like having her here,” said O’Brien, smiling.  She is a great companion and “there are two families that love to take care of her when I’m away because she is such a sweetie,” added O’Brien.  It’s hard to get Sally on the leash sometimes because she is jumping up and down in excitement about coming to MacDuffie. When asked for a quote, Sally said, “Blink Blink Sigh” expressing “I like coming here; the floor is comfortable.”   

Detty Bielizna, History Teacher, recently adopted an adorable Guinea Pig named Thucydides Ignatius Cesare Aurelius, or Tic-Tac for short.  His birthday was August 14th and he’s only been living at MacDuffie with the Bieliznas for a short time.  “He is a wonderful companion,” explained Bielizna. “He’s very quiet and he likes to hide in the house that we bought him.  He’s social but low maintenance.”  Tic-Tac, or Tic-Tacitus as Chris Bielizna, Dean of Students, likes to call him, has been introduced to society through Facebook, but it could take awhile for him to get acclimated to his new surroundings.  When he’s ready, though, “he will be a celebrity in the dorms.”  Tic-Tac purrs sometimes, much like a cat, when his Mama Bielizna asks him to.  Even though he is enjoying his time here, fire drills spook him a bit.  “Squeak Squeal Purr,” said a nervous but excited Tic-Tac,  meaning “I love my new home and all the vegetables in the salad bar!”