Everwood Elementary School’s first school year is well underway, and its students are adjusting to the new building with the help of some four-legged friends.
Everwood SEARCH teacher Dana Patterson created a partnership between the school and therapy dog teams to help students relax throughout the week. This Friday, Robin Herron and golden retriever Reesy went from classroom to classroom, giving students a chance to interact with her.
Patterson formerly taught at Oakwood Elementary School, which closed after the 2024-25 school year to combine with McEver Arts Academy into Everwood. Patterson explained the program was a staple at Oakwood that she wanted to carry on at EES.
“I noticed how much the kids enjoyed it, and so, I made sure that we continue to have therapy dogs, because studies have shown that being around dogs increases the dopamine in our brain and makes us happy and happy, kids do better at school, ” Patterson said. “They perform better on tests. They do their work better. They’re more compliant. And so if I can bring dogs to school, that’s just another tool that we can use to help our kids be successful.”
Therapy dogs differ from service dogs in that a service dog is trained to aid one specific person with a particular need, while therapy dogs are trained to emotionally support several people. All dogs that visit the students at Everwood are certified through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs, an international registry of therapy dog teams.
Herron rotates visits between Reesy and her second therapy golden retriever, Daisy. Reesy is used to visiting students in their classrooms, while Daisy joins students in the school’s library for reading time. Regardless of the dog she brings to see students, the team is almost always dressed in matching costumes, aiming to make the visit more cheerful for students. She recalled the positive impact she has seen the dogs have on students first-hand.
“When [kids are] at school, we don’t always know what they’re going through…a lot of times we’ll go into the classroom and the dogs are so in tuned with how the kids are feeling,” Herron said. “And a lot of times we’ll see kids that you just know they’ve got something going on that’s bothering them. They’re not having such a great day. And then the dog will kind of go to them and pick them out, and they’ll spend a little extra time with them, and you just see immediate change in that child.”
Harron documents her journey with her dogs via her TikTok, CrazyCritterCabinCCC, which has garnered over 68,0000 followers. Through her platform, she raises awareness for the need for therapy dogs. Patterson said the account has also enabled Harron to donate needed supplies to the school.
While the visits are a favorite part of the students’ week, Patterson explained the program is designed to enrich learning time, rather than distract from it.
“On the very first visit at the beginning of the school year, we do stop class,” Patterson explained. “We teach the kids about the dog, why the dog is there, and how to interact safely with the dog. And then after that, we teach the kids that they can stay in their seats, and the dog usually circulates around the room depending on what the teacher is doing…the kids get the benefit of having the dog in the classroom without missing any instruction time.”
The school partners with a total of seven trainers and nine dogs to bring the program to students. The visits from Harron, Reesy, Daisy and other therapy dog teams will continue throughout the school year.
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