The black and white Oreo in science teacher Mrs. Madrak’s room is meant to be hugged, not dunked..

  This Oreo is not a cookie, but a cute and cuddly guinea pig that serves as the class pet. Oreo, the less than one year old guinea pig, was welcomed to Shamokin Area on November 9 and has since been featured on SATV multiple times and has become a crowd favorite among students and staff! Madrak opened up her classroom to Oreo when an email was sent out from a student's parents looking to find a new home for the guinea pig due to discovering their child having an allergy to the animal. It was love at first sight as he's, “ very friendly and he likes to cuddle and he loves interaction and likes to be held”, as described by Madrak. She loves having a class pet around and says the students have taken a liking to Oreo as well, however his name was not always Oreo. Yin Yang, was the former name he had been given. “ As soon as I looked at him I said no your name is Oreo!” stated Madrak. 

  This is not Madrak's first rodeo with owning a guinea pig for a class pet. In her 22 years of teaching she had a guinea pig bought by students in her fourth year, and  a turtle named Franklin who went on to reside in chemistry teacher, Mr. Kramer's turtle pond. She has even been through multiple frogs and a plethora of fish! Yet she finds Oreo to be her favorite because of his calm and friendly nature.

  Oreo does not permanently take residence in her classroom, as he comes home with her on weekends. When her grand kids visit, Oreo gets just as much attention as he does at school from her grandchildren, “Where's the bunny pig!” they exclaim every time, recalled Madrak.

  All in all, Oreo is a delightful class pet all around because he is extremely easy going, relaxed, and enjoys all the simple things, like eating.