A guinea pig was the last thing that Mrs. Rosato expected to show up for first period that Wednesday. As the cage was set down in front of her, and inside she spotted the little black and white creature, she realized that her student’s joke the previous day about a class pet had not been a joke at all.

  The two students responsible for Avogadra’s appearance that morning were sophomores Morgan Korb and Matthew Fazzino, both in Mrs. Rosato’s pre-ap chemistry class. It was Fazzino who came up with the idea.

“Ms. Lynam used to have a class pet, and all the [science] teachers at Kingwood High school have one,” he says. “So I asked Mrs. Rosato, and she said no, and I said ‘I’m still gonna get you one,’ and she said ‘Ok, sure.’”

  That same night, Fazzino and Korb went to the pet store, and bought Mrs. Rosato a guinea pig.

Fazzino wanted to get something soft and furry, in contrast to the reptiles that make up most of the population of KHS’s class pets. When he saw Avogadra, he thought she stuck out among the other guinea pigs.

“I didn’t want like a basic guinea pig, I wanted one that was cool,” he said, laughing. “This one was black and white, and had crazy hair.”

When the two students brought her in the next morning, Rosato, though known for her loud voice, didn’t say much.

“Actually I was a little bit in shock,” she says, “but I was ok with it, I’m pretty easy going.”

In Rosato’s 29 year teaching career, Avogadra is her first class pet. The name was decided by the class, as Rosato was at the time teaching Avogadro’s Number, ( 6.02×10^23), which signifies how many atoms are in a mole of a substance. When they realized the guinea pig was a girl, she was renamed Avogadra.

Though she’s accepted Avogadra, and is taking care of her, it’s pretty clear that Rosato isn’t as ecstatic as some of her students with the addition of Avogadra to the classroom.

“I’m the one that cleans up after her, and provides her with all her stuff. I did have one student donate some food so far, but… A class pet should be everyone’s responsibility,” she said.

Her students, however, are pretty thrilled.

“[Avogadra] comes and she’ll sit in the sink, and she’ll just run around and squeal. It’s so cute,” Fazzino says. “I think that [with a class pet], kids can have more fun… It’s like a mascot.”