Present in room 18 is Cupcake, the ball python of 9 years. After an old coworker of Ms. Lee’s couldn’t care for him any longer, Ms. Lee thought it would be a good idea to have him as a class pet. After asking Principal Kibby and passing the main requirement–that he not be poisonous!–she brought him to class.

Ms. Lee believed it would be cool for students to see snakes and some have taken a liking to him, especially when he eats whole mice. His diet consists of three mice every two weeks, costing $14 dollars per month. His tank is at the corner of the room.

Ms. Lee herself enjoys the constant companionship he brings which takes her back to when she worked at a science museum in college and brought out the snakes to showcase. Besides that, she also enjoys seeing the reaction from students when he eats mice.

When the school year of 2019-2020 hits, Ms. Lee will bring Cupcake to her new classroom in the new school. Despite receiving a bigger classroom than her current one, Cupcake’s tank will remain the same size to avoid stressing him out. If not, this would cause him mental distress.

With a change in school, will other teachers get class pets? Unsure. When asked, Mr. Bedwell finds the idea of it to be amusing but thinks it might be a better fit for elementary school. But if he ever were to get a class pet, he’d consider a guinea pig named Stanley, referencing the main antagonist in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Mr. Frattini said he’d love to have a dog. When some of his students suggested more realistic options he rejected all of them, especially a goldfish. Once the suggestion was uttered, he mentioned tragic childhood stories in which he was lied to by his uncle about why his goldfish went missing.

Mr. Hein isn’t on board with getting a pet and jokingly suggested a parrot that tells his class “to be quiet.”