Having Bean, our sweet black lab who was named by our students, has brought so much happiness to my classroom and home. She particularly loves to steal the spotlight onstage during dance class (I direct an academic dance program at OHS); she genuinely seems to try to make us laugh, and she is good at it! That group of kids, which includes my own 16 year-old daughter, was together through so much last year, and it has been such a blessing to hear the girls laugh at our goofy dog now. She also gets to wear costumes, of course. She enjoys playing a few games of fetch with the kids in my language arts classes in the afternoon and napping while they pet her so that she has the energy for more fun and games with my daughters and her buddy, Jane the cat, when she gets home. She was born for this job, and we are so thankful for her.

Karen Storey and members of her Brighton Pack of Wellness Dogs offered their services during a tragic situation that impacted our entire Clinton community in Sept of 2021. Duncan, Chevy and a sweet pup from the Pack, showed our school community the value and positive impact of having a social emotional dog onsite. Shortly after the visit I contacted Karen and her non-profit 4Pawzstrong about starting the process to secure our own SEL support dog. Over the next 6 months, Karen and I collaborated on presentations for our school board and superintendent. She was amazing, she provided numerous resources, answered all of the questions that members of our admin or school board had and even offered to attend the school board meeting to help with my presentation. Karen walked us through every aspect of our proposal and I was always amazed at her willingness to meet, answer questions or provide feedback on our presentations or proposals. She walked right alongside us as we developed our plan and shared in every triumph. In March, our board approved the request and from there Karen helped us secure a sweet black labrador that had actually visited the high school during that September tragedy. Buddy at the time was being trained by Edgar from the Veteran’s Service Organization and I was updated often on Buddy’s training and received pictures to see how much he had grown since September. Being able to learn about his training and how he was progressing was such a valuable piece of the buy-in from our community, I could give regular updates which excited our students, staff and admin. On June 3rd., 2022 I was notified that Buddy was ready to come home to Clinton. Karen again was there to walk me through the process of becoming Buddy’s handler. I was connected with Edgar and spent a day training with him before the transition and then was connected to the VSO to continue weekly training over the summer. Karen has continually gone above and beyond, over the past 3 months she has checked in on our progress regularly, provided one-on-one support and training for myself and Buddy as well as continued to be available with any issues or questions that I have had during this transition. She is always a text or call away, which I greatly appreciate. Karen, the trainers and her non-profit are truly invested in the success of our program. The regular check-ins and the support I have received during this process has been an amazing gift not only to myself, but to my students. Buddy has been attending school for 3 weeks, and he has really stolen everyone’s hearts. The positive impact he has had on so many in such a short time has really been special. A student recently stated, “This was the BEST decision the district ever made. Buddy makes my day better!” We are forever grateful to Karen, 4PawzStrong and the Veterans Service Organization for their investment in Buddy and helping us to make him a part of our Redwolves family.