FRANKLIN - Classroom met reality Wednesday when a few dozen Franklin High School ninth-graders met two dozen sled dogs from a Campton dog sled touring business.

Carrie Charette's ninth-grade English class is reading Jack London's classic, "The Call of the Wild."

And so she wanted to show the readers what real huskies look like.

Charette and Principal Richard Towne also asked students to gather donations for the Franklin Animal Shelter.

On Wednesday, the students packed about $350 worth of pet food, kitty litter and other items specified by shelter officials into the back of a truck brought by the shelter's treasurer, Jeffrey Brewer.

"One of the goals we are reaching for is to bring real-world conditions to our students," Charette said.

The dog sleds came from Valley Snow Dogs, a dog-sled touring business in Campton.

As Lidia Dale-Mesaros, owner of the business, prepared a snowless demonstration of dog sled riding at one of the school's fields, a student asked whether the dogs could actually pull 1,000 pounds, as he had read. Dale-Mesaros explained that two of her dogs alone can pull 700 pounds.

"That was really impressive to hear," said the questioner, Justin Keith. "I didn't know a dog could pull so much."

Towne said the event accomplished its goal of establishing "a real-world connection to learning."

"They can see the connection between what they've been reading and what's right here," he said.

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