English teacher Patsy Worford has worked at the school for sixteen years, however, it wasn’t until this past spring that a bird joined her classroom.

The new addition is a small green and yellow parakeet who answers to two names, Ringo and Sweet Pea. He has simple beginnings and a simple life in the classroom. His story began when one of her students found the little bird in her backyard and didn’t want to keep it.

“Because she knew I had birds at home she asked if I’d like to have it or did I know someone who’d like to have it,” Worford said. “I said ‘Well why don’t we make it our class pet?’ She brought it and since last spring it’s been our class pet.”

With Ringo came noise, life and stories, both in class and out.

“I wasn’t here the first week and when I came [into the class my first time] my reaction was I thought it was someones cell phone,” senior Tiara Khamchanh said. “I was like ‘Bro, whose phone is ringing?’ and they said it’s the bird. I was cracking up.”

Going from the great Texas outdoors with its up and down weather to the slightly less impressive indoors was difficult. However, the ever changing AC in the school actually helped Ringo. Slowly, he unruffled his feathers and settled in.

“The first day we brought him here he was really loud and wouldn’t stop, but now he’s pretty quiet,” senior Kaleigh Hardy said.

Ringo can normally be found in his cage staring at himself in his tiny mirror. Despite his normally calm demeanor and basic lifestyle, students are still surprised to see a bird in a school that isn’t being chased out of the door by administration. However, once the shock wears off, students can get too comfortable.

“They go ‘Oh! You have a bird in your room?’ [and] they go up and stick their fingers in the cage,” Worford said. “If you stick a finger in a cage, the bird thinks you’re a snake.”

Worford has learned through years of experience what to do with birds. Currently, her house is home to four feathered friends.

“The four birds that I have at home are an African grey, a double yellow-headed amazon, a blue and gold macaw and an umbrella cockatoo,” Worford said.

Worford purchased her birds from a bird shop called Coco Barrel in Carrollton, and advises knowing all of the obstacles a bird proposes before buying.

“What it takes to be a bird owner is a lot of patience because they require a lot of time and a lot of love and attention,” Worford said. “If they don’t receive it they go into an anxiety attack and pull their feathers out. They really have to have personal attention. So [bird ownership is not recommended] unless you’re willing to invest the time and get them out of the cages talking to them and playing with them.”