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Students make toad tops for Texas amphibians
Published November 24, 2009
DANBURY — A toad joined the mockingbird, pecan tree and bluebonnet as an official representative of Texas after Danbury Elementary School students realized the state had not chosen its own amphibian.
The Texas toad was proclaimed that creature by the 81st Texas Legislature, and Monday, state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, presented House Concurrent Resolution 18 to Danbury fifth-graders who helped make it happen. Those students were in fourth grade last year and broke into groups lobbying for one of five animals suggested by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Danbury ISD District Librarian Ace Filipp said.
“It’s been a really exciting process and to know that they made history is awesome,” said Filipp, who directed the effort.
The competition, held at the school along with the Nov. 2, 2008, elections, wasn’t a beauty contest. Students lobbied for their species, and the process included campaign signs, commercials and speeches, Filipp said.
The Texas toad won by a nose, edging the barred tiger salamander by three votes and beating Strecker’s chorus frog, the cliff-chirping frog and the Houston toad. The Texas toad was a natural choice, said Hannah Spitler, who was on the committee seeking that creature.
“It had the word ‘Texas’ in its name,” Hannah said with a smile.
The Texas toad, or bufo speciosus, is a medium-sized toad reaching lengths of more than 3 inches, according to information from the U.S. Geological Survey. They’re usually gray or brown in color with a scattering of dark spots or blotches on their back. The most distinct characteristic of the hopper are two wart-like black spots on each hind foot.
Two years ago, Gov. Rick Perry didn’t like the school’s first offering, the blind salamander, and vetoed the resolution that would have made it the official amphibian.
“Texas toad was the better choice because the salamander didn’t make it the first time,” said supporter and student Zack Rusnak. “So I chose something else.”
Bonnen chose Monday morning to visit the campus and congratulate kids on sticking with the process. Although the veto seemed like a setback at the time, it was good for students to see the way things work in Austin, he said to a library filled with fifth-graders.
“Y’all fixed a real problem we had in Texas,” he said. “We didn’t have a state amphibian.”
The resolution passed the Texas House and Senate before being signed by Perry on June 19.
“We now have a state amphibian because of Danbury,” Bonnen said. “Your children someday will be able to look at Texas history and see that there is a state amphibian. You’re going to be able to tell them, ‘I did that.’ This is a really big deal. You’re now a part of Texas history.”
That fact might not sink in for a while, Danbury Elementary Principal Carol Shefcik said.
“It’s almost unbelievable that kids from this small school are naming the state amphibian,” she said. “I don’t think they know the impact yet. It may take a couple of years. This is a big honor for the school district.”
Danbury ISD Superintendent Eric Grimmett applauded the class’s perseverance.
“It was an opportunity to be part of the (political) process,” he said.
Jacob Ainsworth agreed, blinking hard after several photographs with classmates and with Bonnen.
“It was great to be part of it,” he said.
Cameron Colette, Katie Scarlett Peavy, Colby Mitchell and Dalton Linscombe also were on the Texas Toad Committee.
Dalton chose the Texas toad for a reason more obvious than the salamander’s bad track record.
“I liked the color of it,” he said. “We made posters that said, ‘Vote for the Texas toad.’ It was great. We were the ones who made it possible.”
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TEXAS TOAD
Bufo speciosus
• Grows to more than 3 inches
• Gray to brown in color
• 2 black tubercles (“warts”) on each hind foot
• Indigenous to most of the state except East Texas
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