TAFT, Calif. (KERO) — Learning life skills is an important part of the AVID program, but for Taft Union High School seniors all their work culminates in community projects.
"Looking around, there’s a lot of problems that some people just don't see all the time and doing something like this will hopefully have a chain reaction," said Maycie Barrett, one of the AVID students.
These project require more than just a number of hours met. Students can't choose a project thats been done in the last five years and adult involvement is strictly limited.
"We had to brainstorm what different problems are in our community and one that of all of us noticed was how many animals are around town and one thing to help with that is to help the local animal shelter," Barrett said.
So Barrett and her group created Bubble Puppies. They're raising awareness through social media for the animals at the Taft Animal Shelter.
"I just hope that it’ll bring more awareness to the Taft animal shelter because a lot of people don’t know that we have a shelter out here and so a lot of the dogs out there are super sweet," said Bubble Puppies member Jayde Gonzalez.
"I noticed there are a lot of dogs out there that were previously owned. I also noticed there were a lot of dogs that were previously abused and it’s really sad to hear about that," said Bubble Puppies member Rebekah Hacker.
They're also recruiting other students and organizing car washes to raise donations for the shelter.
"I am really hoping that more dogs will get adopted and more dogs will get off the streets, because it’s really sad to see the dogs in the shelter and when they get fooled, they have to put them down so it’s really sad," Bubble Puppies member Nicholas Yingst.
Ultimately the AVID projects will be completed in a few weeks, but the students say the lessons they are learning will stick with them.
"I hope to get more involved in my community because with this project it’s been really fun Going out and meeting new people so I hope to do more of that," said Hacker.
Bubble Puppies will be hosting a car wash on Sunday at Taft Union High School track parking lot. It's going on from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
