When we asked you to tell us why you have been a “Teacher for Animals” for our online back-to-school essay contest, we were overwhelmed by the response! Hundreds of you submitted essays telling us how you teach others to be kind to animals. You wrote about wearing “I Am Not a Nugget” stickers on your backpacks, handing out anti-dissection leaflets in your biology class, helping friends find cruelty-free cosmetics, and hundreds of other ways you are speaking up for animals. The competition was tough, but we finally selected the following essays as our favorites. Even if we didn’t pick your essay, remember that you’re still a winner because you’re a compassionate person who is making a difference for animals every day!

I teach people about animal rights wherever I go. Every day at school, I wear animal rights stickers, and I usually get questions from other students and teachers. Sometimes I even pass out stickers to other willing “advertisers.” Last year, some friends and I began a Friends of Animals Club so that we could spread the word about cruelty to animals and factory farms. I’m happy to say that most of the club members became vegetarians if they were not already. I like to take a lot of pamphlets to school at least once a month to pass out to fellow students. I usually get a lot of good feedback, and people always want to help me pass them out. Getting such good feedback from everyone always encourages me to do it more often.
—Megan Davis, Holiday, Florida

Living compassionately is not just a way of life, it is a mission. Last year, I wrote a report on the cruelty of animal testing, and I presented it to my English class, convincing many students to avoid companies that test on animals. I handed out fliers that told the truth about animal tests funded by the March of Dimes, and I served as an example for other students who didn’t want to dissect, leading them to refuse as well. But the best thing I’ve done to help animals is to become a vegan and, I am proud to say, encourage others to do the same.
—Lauren Brown, Byron, Georgia

I have made it my goal to collect 200 signatures to send to Procter & Gamble in protest of its animal-tested products. I want to educate people about the terrible things that they can help stop by not buying products tested on animals and also about the fact that these companies don’t care about saving lives, just money. I tell people about alternatives to animal testing. I also educate people about kindness to animals through leafleting, speeches, and sometimes protests but most of all through my actions—just buying cruelty-free items is setting an example. I just want to teach kindness to animals.
—Shannah Kristin, Topeka, Kansas