2021 Education magazine

Page 26 2021 Education Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS February 18, 2021 What’s a dog doing in school? Trained therapy dog Casey is calming in the classroom and has aided students through a variety of stressors. Continued p D ogs have a chronicle of being loyal, kind, and understanding. They greet people happily and make people feel better with a wag of their tail and a playful grin. For most people, life just seems better with a dog. They keep us company, entertain us, and comfort us. Dogs repay the love they receive tenfold. Human attachment to the four-legged animal is centuries old. For all these reasons, dogs make good therapy animals. While a service dog helps individuals with specific disabilities such as visual impairment, hearing impairment, or post-traumatic stress disorder, a therapy dog has a different purpose. A therapy dog provides comfort and support; a relief to those in anxiety-provoking situations. Therapy dogs are trained to use their instinct and learned social skills to provide health, social, emotional, and cognitive benefits. Chester-East Lincoln District #61 now has a therapy dog named Casey. Her handler, former Bloomington School District #87 Psychologist Julie Hesse was looking for a dog for her