United school district is planning on a new faculty member next year. He doesn’t have a college degree but he does accept payment in kibble.
District 304 Superintendent Jeff Whitsitt says a teacher owns the dog, a Wheaton terrier, named Graham and is going through the process to become certified.
He tells WGIL this is something they never would have thought of ten years ago.
He says that they have a group of teachers that focus on social and emotional issues with students and in their research found that a therapy dog can have a positive impact on kids.
Whitsitt emphasizes that dog is the teacher’s and doesn’t belong to District 304 but the animal will be in school buildings on a “fairly regularly basis”, most commonly at the elementary building.
He says they’ve already seen the impact Graham can have, when he was brought to United High School earlier this year after a sophomore died in a drowning accident.
“It worked just like you would hope it would,” said Whitsitt. “Just calm some kids and give them something to concentrate on and give them some comfort at that point in time.”
This comes after last year United added a counselor at their elementary building.
There have been media reports in recent weeks of successful therapy dog programs at public schools in Nampa, ID, Hanover, OH and even a program where kids read to dogs in Sturgeon Bay, WI.
