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WOOD Radio Local News

 

Ada Vista Elementary officially welcomes new 'PRIDE' support dog

Ada Vista Elementary held a ceremony today to officially welcome their first ever PRIDE school support dog named 'Jersey', as well as thank all their donors who made the opportunity possible.

PRIDE” stands for Persistent, Respectful, Inclusive, Dependable, Every day. The district says Jersey will help foster a supportive and inclusive environment at Ada Vista Elementary.

"Between the pandemic and being in school and being with people and not being with people and everything else, it was just important that after everything we've all gone through to have something else to support everybody." said Allison Woodside de Carillo, Principal at Ada Vista Elementary.

Extensive training has been done with Jersey to ensure she'll provide the best possible support to the students and staff at the school.

"Her (Jersey's) role is to go into classrooms, and just over all have her in a spot where on days where kids are having a hard day or don't want to be at school, she's able to be there for them and help them just deescalate," Abby Garcia, the Behavior Support Aide at Ada Vista Elementary and Jersey's primary handler, said. "Your mood just brightens up when you pet her, and she just gives you lots of love."

Jersey has been hard at work at the school since December, and although today was her "official" welcome, she's already making a huge impact. Laura Shuler, a first-grade teacher at Ada Vista who initiated the idea of introducing a support dog to the school, says students are already benefitting from her comforting and loving presence.

"We have a couple of students who don't like talking with adults face to face, especially if it's an emotional struggle they're having, but the other day I had a student sit with Jersey and just everything came out, everything she was going through. So, it's already helping students process verbally a little bit more." Shuler said.

More PRIDE pups are expected to make a debut at the district's other schools in the near future.


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