Dogs help calm anxiety, offer life lessons to kids and adults in this school district

Since their arrival last fall in Lee’s Summit R-7 schools, the district’s four new therapy dogs are making friends and positively impacting students and staff members. The dogs assist in areas such as helping students deal with emotions, serving as positive role models for behavior and teaching children how to be safe around dogs.

In the elementary schools, Dakota, a golden retriever, is assigned to Hawthorn Hill, while Mocha, a great Pyrenees/Anatolian shepherd mix, works at Westview. At the upper grades, Zoe, a border collie/Anatolian shepherd mix, is at Bernard Campbell Middle School. Mia, an Alaskan husky/shepherd mix, is assigned to Lee’s Summit West High School.

Jennifer Biggar, Hawthorn Hill Elementary counselor, said Dakota comes to school with her every day.

“I use Dakota to help regulate emotions in both students and staff,” she said. “She is a role model for good behavior. She is used as rewards when students need it. She is also there to just bring positivity and happiness to everyone that meets her.”

Discussions about bringing the therapy dogs to the Lee’s Summit schools began last year.

“During the 2021-22 school year, a team — composed of administrators and counselors — explored how it might be possible to bring facility/therapy dogs to LS R-7,” said Heather Kenney, the school district’s assistant superintendent of elementary education.

The decision to work toward obtaining a therapy dog at any given school is up to the individual schools, Kenney added. The Lee’s Summit dogs are from a variety of organizations. Dakota comes from CARES (Canine Assistance Rehabilitation Education and Services) Inc. and the other three dogs were provided by Warriors’ Best Friend Foundation.

Each dog has an assigned handler at its school. The dogs also live in their handlers’ homes. In addition to Biggar, Lee’s Summit handlers are Malori Palermo at Westview Elementary, Sarah Young at Bernard Campbell Middle School and Kerry Stites at Lee’s Summit West High School.

Therapy dogs may be added to other Lee’s Summit schools in the future.

“Individual schools may decide at any time to begin the process of having a facility/therapy dog. And as the positive impact is seen at the schools where facility/therapy dogs have been placed, we’ve absolutely heard about interest from families,” Kenney said.

Biggar said Dakota has been helpful with both children and adults at the school.

“She regulates emotions in both students and staff,” she said. “When people are stressed or are having some anxiety or big feelings, she helps calm them. She will go to those people as soon as she walks in a room. I can’t tell you how many times she has gone straight up to people who need her. It was amazing. She just has this calming effect about her. The other dogs, I am sure, do the same thing.”

Another advantage of the in-school therapy dogs is their ability to help students learn how to behave appropriately and safely around dogs.

“Even students who have been scared of dogs, when they first meet her, tend to get to a point where they love her also,” she added.