Animals help students' mental health
AECSD Public Information Specialist
Adults and children all go through tough times, periods when some happiness could make us feel better. The Auburn Enlarged City School District tries to help students when they’re struggling, and one way to do this is with animals.
New Superintendent of Schools Dr. Misty Slavic has introduced her therapy dog Roo to the district, and she’s become quite popular. Roo is a 2-year-old boxer Dalmatian mix who is deaf.
When Slavic worked in Pennsylvania, she discovered how happy students became when therapy dogs visited.
“The kids’ faces were lit up, everyone was smiling and happy and just talking non-stop,” she said. “Some of them were reading to the dogs about grief and how you deal with sadness. This was right after Covid, and some of the kids had lost parents and grandparents, it was a tough time.”
Slavic, who was already a dog owner, realized she could help.
“We were looking for another furry family member, and I kept seeing this dog rescue that our district works with, and they kept advertising for this puppy that was deaf,” she said. “Nobody wanted it, and they were looking for the right family so I started doing research. I was thinking about what it did to change the atmosphere and how I can help our staff and our kids.”
Slavic learned how to get a service dog certified, the policies, insurance, and background checks. Then she went to the animal shelter to meet Roo – it was a special introduction.
“She just immediately goes to people, she's very sweet and loving and wants attention,” she said. “I agreed to take her. I had already spoken to the school board. I showed them all the research and they said, ‘Let's do this.’ The very next day I had her.”
At first, Slavic only brought Roo to the district office to get acclimated to the building and staff while undergoing extensive American Kennel Club certification training.
“She took to it immediately, that's her life, she grew up in schools,” Slavic said. “From there I started visiting classrooms once she became AKC certified. I shared her story with the kids, explaining her superpower, which is that she's deaf, and that it makes her unique and special just like all of them. I really try to promote the idea of acceptance and kindness, an understanding that it's okay for people to be different, just like animals. It started there and then it just kind of blew up.”
Slavic received constant requests to bring Roo to classrooms, whether it was a reward, to hear a story or what they learned in class.
“I would get calls from principals, ‘Some students are having a really rough day. Can you bring Roo down?’ She would work one-on-one with our secondary kids to calm them down.”
Slavic has seen Roo’s impact in the time she’s been in Auburn.
“It's going amazing, that's her job when she puts on her (therapy dog) collar that she wears to work,” she said. “She immediately goes into work mode. I've watched her interact with kids here and you see their faces light up, you can see the joy in their eyes. You can see the staff members’ joy at seeing her. It just changes your mentality because it makes you smile without even realizing it's that real smile, that internal goodness.”
Slavic stressed Roo is always in training and is certified and insured. She said she’s gotten offers from people to bring their dogs into classrooms but can’t because they don’t have the proper training, certification, and insurance to be in a school environment.
“An animal that acts one way at home with you may respond differently (in a classroom),” said Slavic, who pays for all of Roo’s training, care, and insurance, not the district. “I'm very cautious. You need extensive training, and insurance is huge. I am liable for that dog, not the district.”
Slavic asks teachers if their students are scared of or allergic to dogs. If so, she either won’t bring Roo in or the students can be taken out of the classroom, and the visits don’t disrupt academics.
“That's important to know because parents often say, ‘What if I don't want my kid around your dog, or what if my child has allergies?’ Then we keep the dog away.”
Roo can be found on Instagram at roothesuperdog.
At Genesee Elementary, there’s a new bearded dragon in the library, and students will participate in a naming contest. There are hamsters at Owasco and Herman Avenue elementary schools. At Herman Avenue, "Pumpkin the Hamster" is in Lynn Varley’s third-grade class.
Owasco Vice Principal Elizabeth Molloy introduced Oreo and Hershey this year. The idea came last year when a student who was between homes needed help taking care of their hamsters. It went so well, Molloy asked Principal Ron Gorney if they could get two of their own.
“We had students that had recently experienced loss and we just found the hamsters to be really beneficial,” she said. “Ron was in agreement and said, if we get one, we should get another so they're not lonely. We did a lot of research about hamster care and we talked to Petco and they recommended hamsters to be good companions for children.”
Molloy said students can earn school “money” to buy hamster time after they eat lunch and there is always an adult supervising them. The PTO bought them “cars” and the school community has donated treats so the district does not pay anything.
She said it's a good way to have fun and a positive interaction with students where it's not for getting into trouble. The hamsters can help calm some students.
“When somebody is upset, we use our best judgment,” she said. “We know our students, we know what works with them. There are some students that don't respond or have no interest so we don't introduce them. It's just been cool as a grown-up. You sometimes forget what it's like to be a student and to learn something new. It's been the gift that keeps on giving.”
